Homesick (Fairy Tail Au)
by languor
Summary: In Which Natsu Runs Away From Fairy Tail, In Order To Protect His Friends From His Etherious Self.
1. Chapter One

_"Natsu!" Happy said with tears in his eyes, as Natsu finished packing his stuff._

_"...Y-You're not really going, are you?" The exceed questioned, voice trembling as he sniffled._

_"I'm sorry, buddy," Natsu said, walking over to the blue cat. "But we talked about this, didn't we?" _

_He put his hand on the exceed's head and smiled at him._

_"I've finally found a way to treat this thing," Natsu explained. "That's why I have to go. As soon as I find that herb, I will come back to Fairy Tail!" _

_Natsu grinned at him goofily, and Happy let out a cry as he jumped at Natsu, clinging to his white scarf as he cried again. _

_"F-Fine, but you promised to come back Natsu!" Happy cried out. "You have to come back home, Natsu!"_

_Natsu sighed._

_"I...I promise," Natsu said and inhaled sharply, his smile long gone._

_"I promise I will come back,"_

* * *

_**_ **__**With Natsu**__** _**_

Snowflakes landed on his cold skin, teeth clacking against eachother as he shivered. A strong gust of wind blew, messing up his hair.

He knew it was foolish of him to come, but he also knew that it was always winter in this forest. so it wouldn't make any diffrence _when_ he came.

He cursed under his breath as he took unsteady steps forward in the knee deep snow, feeling like his feet were frozen.

It had been hours since he had left Magnolia, only to get stuck in the blizzard and snow. Natsu was sure that they were all looking for him by now.

The forest was cursed, by one of the Tartaros members who knew ice magic, as far as he knew. Until now, neither fire nor ice wizards were able to lift the curse from the forest.

He also knew that they were demons created by the black wizard, Zeref.

_The__ main purpose of creating them was for them to kill their creator, but none have succeeded._ Natsu thought and huffed.

"Tch, I can think of one who could easily do that," He said, glancing at his left hand which was covered with a black glove.

He sighed, "...But only if his magic power wasn't this weak,"

Natsu pulled the hood of his cloak over his head as he felt the snow getting more. His hands were trembling and he was cold.

"Gah, this is so embarrassing!" He growled, pulling on his pink locks in frustration.

"I'm a fire wizard for crying out loud!" Natsu exclaimed. "Not to mention, I'm E.N.D!"

He clenched his right hand into a fist. "I'm supposed to be immune to this chilliness," He mumbled. "But here I am, shivering from the cold,"

He gritted his teeth. "...Gray would be laughing his ass off at me if he were here,"

Natsy knew everyone at Fairy Tail were probably worried for him, now that he was gone. But of course, none of them knew that he had a _condition. _

Afterall, according to the book he read, the herb that could cure him was only found in this forest.

It sounded stupid, in fact. A _plant _being able to heal the trouble he had with his arm.

Glancing at his left hand once again, he doubted it could work. It'd just be too easy, for all he knew.

Pushing his hand into his pocket, he pulled out a piece of paper he had ripped from a book.

Natsu narrowed his eyes at the picture of the plant. His gaze then moved to the sight infront of him.

"As far as I can see, it's only trees," He muttered with anger.

"...The whole ground is coverded in snow! How the hell am I supposed to find this thing?!"

He wrapped his arms tightly around himself as the wind blew once again. He clutched the piece of paper in his hand, making sure it wouldn't be blown away.

"I have to find Hargeon," He said through gritted teeth. "Or I'll freeze to death,"

_Hargeon's just next to this forest amyway._ Natsu thought. _Finding it won't be a problem._

"...I can come back and search for the plant at the morning," He said. "It must be less cold by then. For now, I have to get shelter,"

After a few minutes of walking, he slowed down, doubling over with his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

_I'm really out of shape, huh? _He bitterly thought. _I can't even run._

He shook his head to get rid of his own thoughts. He looked up and gasped when his eyes caught sight of lights not very far away.

"Wow," He breathed. "That was quick,"

As he walked towards the lights, he took note of how the temperature was rising. The lights from the outskirts of Hargeon became more clear and he sighed in relief.

_It sure was hard coming here by foot._ Natsu thought.

He could have easily traveled by train. However, in the end, he decided to come through the forest for a few reasons.

First of all, he hated traveling by train. His motion sickness during a ride on a moving vehicle always drove him crazy, and he had a hard time trying not to puke.

Also, by coming from the forest, he knew he had the chance to find the plant he was looking for.

Natsu growled. _I had no luck with that one._

However, Natsu knew that his friends knew him well. _They'd know I wouldn't take the train. I hope they don't follow me here._

When his boots finally came in contact with dirt instead of snow, he sighed in relief, knowing he had made it.

The sky was cloudy, and the wind was still blowing. Eventhough it was chilly, it definitly wasn't as cold as the forest.

He turned around and started walking towards the city. The closer he got to the town, the warmer it became.

According to what he knew about the plant he needed, Hargeon and the forest near it were the only places you could find the herb.

Surely, coming to Hargeon all by his own was a _risk. _It wasn't far from Magnolia, and to any _wizard_, traveling there wasn't dangerous at all.

Natsu sighed. "But it's _definitly_ dangerous when you suck at doing magic,"

For the past five months, his magic power barely equaled the magic he had when he was a child.

His dragon slaying magic used to be strong. He was even chosen for S-class a few years ago.

However, since his left hand began to _change, _he found out he was _the_ Etherious Natsu Dragneel. Apparently, he was also the master of Tartaros.

Not much longer after he found out, his magic power began to _drain_ out of him, or that's what he used to think.

In fact, the magic was all getting piled up at his left hand and slowly going up his arm to spread in his whole body.

The first time he noticed how his power had drained was when he lost a fight with Gray back at the guild. Not only himself, but also Gray were suprised.

It wasn't _like _him to lose that quickly. Not long after starting to battle, he was out of breath, bruised and beaten.

He claimed it was an accident, losing to Gray like that. However, later, he realized his Fire Dragon Roar didn't seem to be as strong as it used to be.

In fact, it would end in seconds, leaving him shocked and confused.

Each time he ran, he'd run out of breath. In each battle, he'd lose, and each quest he took, he would fail.

To his suprise, his friends were all worried about him. They'd question him, but he'd shrug it off.

After making sure no one was watching, Natsu pulled the black leather glove off his left hand. The black cloak he wore was also doing a good job at hiding his hand.

It was no doubt it was E.N.D's hand. It was dark red, like blood, and it was hot and burning, like lava.

Obviously, the glove he wore was a _magic _glove. _It still surprises me how it can hold it my magic._

He had bought the pair of gloves at a store where they sold magic items. Eventhough he had two of the gloves, he only used one, not needing the other one _yet._

Natsu kept looking at his hand with pained eyes.

Instead of nails, he had claws, sharper than any knives he had seen.

His skin's blood red colour covered his whole hand and forearm, and ended right below his elbow.

At first, it was just his thumb, which turned red. His nail turned into a sharp claw not long after. However, cutting the claw off, he claimed the red markings were just a burn.

Of course, his comrades barely believed him. He was a fire mage, and a fire wizard wouldn't _ever_ get a burn. However, they all shrugged it off quickly.

However, he finally started wearing the magic glove when _all_ his fingers turned red, nails turning into claws.

Cutting the claws off wasn't an option, because no matter how many times he cut them off, they would grow back again. He decided that hiding it was the best choice.

His left arm felt heavy compared to the other, since it was larger in size. However, slowly, he got used to it.

He later realized that indeed, his magic was piling up at his hand. Without the magic glove, whatever he touched with his left hand would turn into ashes in seconds.

Natsu sighed. In fact, he _was_ strong. He had the power of his etherious self, afterall.

However, he wouldn't ever allow himself to use his left hand, either to defeat a villian or complete a quest.

His own power _frightened_ him. He feared that one day, he'd get carried away and lose control.

However, he always wondered what would happen if his whole body transformed into his etherious form. Would he turn into the demon itself? What if he never got to revert back to normal?

As much as he didn't want to admit it, the process had been slow, but in the past month, the red transformation was spreading up his arm much quicker.

Natsu wore the glove once again before looking up at the sky.

It felt bad not being able to bring Happy with himself. His blue exceed was the only one who knew of his condition. When Natsu explained why he had to leave, Happy agreed on staying.

They both knew it meant putting Natsu in danger. He couldn't afford letting anyone know about his true nature, even if it meant protecting his own life.

Natsu knew very well that if they knew it was him, they would capture him, and even kill him. That's why he didn't want Happy to be involved in the mess he could be getting into.

In fact, he felt guilty. Guilty of leaving all his friends from Fairy Tail behind, because he wouldn't go back again. Ever.

He was _dangerous_, and if he was going to lose control someday, his friends would be the last people he wanted to hurt.

Happy's words from hours ago rang in his head.

"_You have to come back home, Natsu!"_

_"I...I promise," He had said. "I promise I will come back,"_

"But that's a lie," Natsu mumbled, eyes still glued to the sky.

"I'm _never_ going back,"


	2. Chapter Two

**_ With Gray _**

"You've got to be kidding me, Mira," Gray hissed as he looked at the white-haired mage. She blinked at him as she held the job flier and was about to speak, until he beat her to it.

"There's no way I'm going on a quest with that stupid ash for brains again! For a few months now, Me, Natsu and Erza have been going on job requests. Not that I mind Erza, but _he _is always starting a fight," The ice wizard exclaimed angrily.

He looked away and continued. "...Tch, not that he could fight back and win anyway," He mumbled.

Mira smiled at him, ignoring his harsh tone as she put the flier on the counter.

"Calm down, Gray. I was just suggesting taking this job. You know, you guys always like beating up the _bad_ guys, specially Natsu. I thought you three might want to take this quest before anyone else does," Mira said with a sweet tune.

Gray rolled his eyes. "You mean the _good _guys,"

He looked up at her with emotionless eyes.

"...Have you forgotten that we're a dark guild?" He questioned.

Mira remained silent.

"We may be a dark guild, as the other people say, Gray. But don't you forget that we do this for a fine purpose," A fammiliar voice suddenly said.

It was Erza, walking towards them with her usuall armour on. Gray barely looked at her with a bored expression, then went back to his glass of water as he watched the ice cubes float on top.

Gray's face didn't change the slightest bit as he sighed, still sitting on the chair as he drank the water.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," He said. "Who told us to play the role of Robin Hood here anyway? It's stupid,"

Erza pursed her lips into a tight line. "Helping other people get back what was stolen from them, helping them get back the money they needed, bringing back the children who were kidnapped, do you call that stupid, Gray?" She asked.

He looked back at her with his usuall _cool and calm _face. "Yeah, kind of. I don't like _stealing _other people's money, only to give it to those who are poor,"

He continued. "Plus, what benefits us? We just get a little portion of the money we return to the poor anyway." He said. "That is, if they're nice enough to offer,"

"...Some of us can barely make ends meet, you know." He said, making both of the female mages remain silent.

"Plus, no one ever pays attention to the good things we do for everyone- like the ones Erza said. They all just see the _'__steal the money from the rich, give it to the poor' _part," He said and Erza sighed.

"...Also, every other guild in Fiore is considered our _enemy, _just because we are _labeled _as a dark guild when we're no-"

"That's enough, Gray," Erza said and cut him off by landing a punch on his head, not too hard to make him pass out, but enough to make him dizzy.

His head landed on the counter as Mira giggled softly. Erza peeked at the flier and hummed. "What is this?"

"It's what I just was talking to Gray about. It's a simple job request. The client wants us to get the thieves who had stolen all the jewels they had, and get their belongings back," She said and smiled.

"...I think you're going to need to beat up a lot of people. I think Natsu would be very _fired up _for this quest," Mira finished.

Erza sighed. "I'm not sure about that. Haven't you seen how he's low on strength? He keeps running out of breath, and his magic power is beyond weak," Erza said, a tint of sadness in her voice.

"Right," Gray added with a grin. "He's been losing in all our usuall fights. I'd do anything to keep seeing that disappointed look on his face when he's defeated." He said, more like _joked._

Erza frowned at what he said, and Mira just smiled. Although it didn't seem like it, they both knew he _did _care.

"Gray, that's not nice at all. We all clearly know that something's been going on with him." Mira said. "He's not his usuall cheerful self, and he's been staying home rather than the guild hall for a while now," Erza hummed in agreement. Gray remained silent.

Mira took his now empty glass of water and came back with a small slice of strawberry cake on a plate, placing it infront of Erza.

Gray huffed as he rested his chin on the palm of his hand. "Tch, not to mention that creepy old black cloak he's been wearing," He added.

"We will take this job,"

Gray looked at Erza with shock. "What the hell? Weren't you just talking about how out of shape he is?" Gray protested, trying to change her mind.

"Silence, Gray," She said in a dangerously low tune, and Gray gritted his teeth.

"What if he can't help us at all? Then we have to save his sorry ass all the time while doing our mission!" He said angrily.

"Stop being such a child. His condition is no excuse for him not to go on any quests, Gray," Erza snapped at him.

Mira awkwardly cleared her throat. "Uh, so you _are _taking this job, right? The client says that they would offer a lot of their jewels if you can bring them back for him!"

Gray sighed and stood up from the chair near the counter, waving his hand at the two as he walked away.

"...Well then Mira, if Erza is there with him, the client's not gonna need me around. I told you, I am _not_ going with him."

Erza suddenly slammed her fist on the counter, making Gray stop dead in his tracks and his back to stiffen.

He gulped. _Shit, I made her angry. I talked too much._

He hesitated, but turned around to see her looking at him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Going on this mission is an _order_, Gray, not something for you to choose." She said, making him clench his hand into a fist. _Order? Tch._

However, he valued his life, so he kept silent after seeing the dangerous looking sword she had summoned.

"Fine, whatever you say," He said, shoulders dropping as he finally gave up.

Erza's sword disapeared as she smiled at him, grabbing the plate with her strawberry cake as she started to eat.

He looked at Erza as she eat the cake with hearts in her eyes. He sighed. _Wow, her mood changes so quickly._

"Okay then! I'm glad you decided to do it!" Mira said.

She continued. "...Gray, Would you be kind enough to let Natsu and Happy know about the job request?" Mira asked.

Gray groaned at the thought of another job with the fire dragon slayer, but mumbled a _yes_ anyway when Erza glared at him with a murderous look.

He sighed again, heading for the front doors. _I can't believe I let her convince me to go!_

"Ah, by the way," Erza suddenly said, making him turn around. He rose an eyebrow as she smiled in an oh _so _innocent way.

"Don't worry about the fights you two are going to have," She said.

"..._I_ will be there to stop you if you started any," She smiled, making him gulp. The way she was looking at him sent shivers down his spine.

He just nodded and headed for the front doors at a faster pace, cursing under his breath.

"Oh, and put some clothes on before you go outside."

"Crap! When did that happen?!"

* * *

Gray looked around at the trees and plants with his hands in his pockets as he walked to Natsu's house.

He had to admit, Fairy Tail's location wasn't the best, since it was in middle of one of the forests near Magnolia, but it had to be this way so no one could figure out where they were. **(A/N: This is not the forest Natsu escaped by)**

Therefore, many of the Fairy Tail members' houses were built somewhere near the guild hall, Natsu's being one.

Ariving, Gray pulled out his hands from his pockets. "Open up the door, Flame brain," He said as he knocked harshly on the old wooden door with his fist.

After a few seconds when he got no response, he sighed, looking down at the job flier he was supposed to show him. "Natsu, open up!" He tried again, louder this time. _No response_.

"Damn, where the hell is he?" He said. "Happy? You in there?"

He knocked again, but no avail. _Wherever he is, Happy must be with him then._

He hesiated, but grabbed the door knob and tried to open the door, to realize it was already open.

"Okay, I'm coming in," He said to no one in particular and took a step inside the old rusty house, sighing as his conversation earlier with Erza came back to his mind.

—

_"Plus, what benefits us? We just get a little portion of the money we return to the poor anyway. And that is, if they're nice enough to offer," Gray said._

_"...Some of us can barely make ends meet, you know,"_

_—_

He knew his own house wasn't any better though. Not only him, but almost _All_ of the Fairy Tail members. The reason was the fact that the money they made wasn't much.

However, even though they were low on money, none complained or asked for more from the clients, claiming that it didn't matter.

He shook his head to clear his head and took another step inside, frowning when he didn't hear anything. "This is strange. Those two should be making a lot of no-"

He cut himself off when he entered the living room, only to find it almost completely empty. Everything was gone, except for some wooden chairs and the wooden sofa in the middle of the room.

Gray gasped and his eyes went wide at the sight of the empty room. Suprisingly, the kitchen was empty as well. As long as he remembered, it was always a mess of leftover food and unwashed dishes, but now, it was empty.

He gritted his teeth and quickly ran to the only bedroom in the house. Nothing was there, except a wooden bed.

"What the hell happened here?" Gray said out loud, letting the flier fall to the ground from his hand as he completely forgot about it.

"They couldn't have left! Even if they did, why would they do that? They looked like they were fine back at the guild, so why?" He said and looked around once again. _No sign of them._

Gray cursed and ran out of the house, towards the guild.

He panted as he opened the front doors, going inside. He walked towards Erza, still out of breath.

"Erza," He breathed out, doubling over with his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

She was still munching on the strawberry cake, a bit of its cream over the corner of her mouth.

"You told him?" She said with a smile, obviously happy because of the cake she was eating. "So, what was his opinion? Will he come?"

"Natsu and Happy," Gray panted. "They're gone,"


	3. Chapter Three

**_ With Natsu _**

"Yo, the meals you have ordered cost quite a lot. Are you sure you will be able to pay?" The waiter asked the dragon slayer, raising an eyebrow.

Natsu guessed the waiter was in his late forties, judging by the wrinkles on his forehead and near his eyes. He had little hair on his head and had stubbles, a cigarette hanging from his lips.

Natsu sighed as he heard his stomach growl once again. "Yeah, I am sure. It's been a while since I've had a proper meal, so I'm going to eat as much as I can tonight," Natsu replied with a toothy grin, making the man nod and leave.

As soon as he was gone, Natsu leaned back on the chair with his hands locked behind his head, trying to ignore all the noise the drunk men were making at the bar.

He knew a bar wasn't the best place to eat in Hargeon, but he couldn't afford any of those fancy restaurants.

In fact, the whole place was filled with smoke and the scent of alcohol, making him want to puke. _God, how am I going to even eat here?_

Natsu glanced at the men at the bar as they gulped down beer and wine, glass after glass. They looked dangerous, actually. He could tell they were the type who were willing to even kill someone just for a few jewels.

_Hmm, they be dangerous, but not to me! I'm a wizard, a strong one, and I'm capable of protecting myself!_

He sighed. Even though that sounded cocky and confident, he knew he was just trying to convince himself. Convince himself that he's strong, when he wasn't.

He shook his head and instead, tried to think about the food he was going to have. He knew the quiality of the food wasn't going to be good, because this obviously wasn't a good restaurant.

However, he was _hungry, _and he was willing to eat anything, just to make that hunger go away. His stomach growled once again and he winced as his hands desparetly clutched it. It hurt, but he could handle it.

It wasn't something new. He was used to it.

After a few minutes, several plates containing diffrent types of food was placed infront of him. He could feel everyone's eyes on him as he looked at all the food in shock.

Then, he groaned and pulled at his pink messy hair. _I think I ordered too much, again. What if I can't pay for it?!_

"Ah, nevermind. I'll just enjoy the food for now," He mumbled and smiled. _Th__is sure brings back memories. _He thought and grinned, flashbacks of the countless times he ate as much food as now coming to his mind.

He could hear the people whisper to eachother with the help of his enhanced hearing. Speaking of that, it wasn't as strong as it was before. However, he wished he couldn't hear anything at all.

"_He must be really rich! Look at how much food he's got!"_

_"Duh, no way! Just look at his clothes and dirty face! He's nothing but a stray!"_

_"He looks like an old man wearing that dirty cloak!"_

He decided to ignore the whispers as much as he could and dug in. He indeed hadn't had a satisfing meal in a long time. There simply wasn't enough money to afford it. _Too bad Happy's not here to join me._

He looked at the window as he munched on his food. It was raining outside and the wind was blowing wildly in every direction. However, it was kind of warm and cosy in the restaurant. Natsu sighed in content, even though his nose was filled with second hand smoke.

After a few minutes, all of the food was suddenly gone, and nothing was left in the plate. The food was splattered all over the table, but he didn't care.

Ignoring the mess, he let out a hum as he rubbed his stomach with his hand, finally feeling the hunger going away. The waiters and the other customers were shocked at how fast he had finished all that food.

Natsu's vision began to get blurry with sleep. His eyelids grew heavy as he tried to keep his eyes open. However, after a few seconds, not being able to resist the urge to sleep, his head landed on the table as he fell into a slumber.

He didn't know how long it was, but suddenly, an arm was violently shaking one of his, saying things he could not understand.

"Hey you, it's hours past midnight. You need to go now. We're going to close the restaurant. Hey? Hey! Wake up, stupid!" The waiter called, earning a growl from Natsu.

"Leave me alone, Happy," He mumbled in a raspy voice as his eyes closed once again. In a matter of seconds, he fell sleep again, soft snores escaping his parted lips.

"Who the hell is Happy?! You haven't even paid your bill yet!" A new voice yelled, slamming a hand on his table, just beside his head.

Natsu groggily looked up, eyes bloodshot and red, showing the lack of sleep. His eyes took in his surroundings, and he realized he was circled by a few of the waiters, all looking pissed off. To him, they all looked like criminals.

In the middle, there stood a rather bulky man who looked angrier than any of them. _I guess he's the boss around here, huh?__ Or maybe the chef or somethin'?_

Looking around, he realized that every other customer was gone, and that he was the only one left besides the staff. _Just how long were I sleeping?! I close my eyes for a second and suddenly everyone's gone?_

Remembering what the angry man had said, he frowned. "W-What bill?"

The man gritted his teeth, his hands curling up into fists. "What bill?! This, idiot!" He exclaimed, shoving a piece of paper at his face.

Natsu's jaw dropped as his eyes met the number of jewels he had to pay.

"What? Are you just going to stare at the paper?! C'mon, hand over the jewels, little brat!" The man said, reaching an open hand towards him to recieve the jewels. Natsu didn't reply.

He cursed under his breath. _Damn, I'm so reckless. I was just thinking of my stomach and this is what I get!_

Natsu stood up and opened up his backpack, pulling out the smaller bag of jewels. He looked up and met the man's eyes as he put the small bag in the palm of his larger hand.

"T-This is all I have. I'm sorry," He apologized. "If you want, I can do your dishes or help you light up the fire-"

"Well, too bad for you the day is over, so you can't be any help to us," The man said, leaning close to his face as he gritted his teeth. Natsu could easily smell the scent alcohol on his breath.

Natsu sighed. "If you want, I will wait until the next day so I can help y-" He was cut off by a fist colliding with his cheek, earning a growl of pain out of him as he took a step back.

"What the hell, man? I told you I'm sorry! Plus, I'm sure the jewels in the bag I gave you are almost enough!" Natsu said angrily.

If he wasn't in this situation, he definitly would have laughed at himself. This wasn't like him at all. It was out of character, actually.

When anyone insulted him, not even physically, but by words, _he _would be the one to land a punch in their faces. However, now, he wasn't looking for any trouble, so as long as the man wouldn't do it again, he would hold in the urge to even kill him.

The bulky man scoffed. The other waiters laughed and whispered something to eachother with a grin.

Natsu could sense danger as they all started getting closer and closer to him, some rolling up their sleeves as they creepily smiled at him. He started feeling a tingling sention in his left arm as he clutched the strap of his backpack with his right hand.

Natsu gritted his teeth as his back pressed against the wooden wall. He looked back and saw the window at his left and another table at his right.

The bulky man snickered as he crossed his arms over his chest. He leaned close to Natsu's face again, this time making him cough at the strong scent of alcohol.

"Say, little man, what about letting us have a bit of fun beating you up instead?" He said, and Natsu growled.

"Like I'd let you do that, bastard," Natsu said confidently and flashed a determinded smile.

The man's smile disapeared and before he could say a word, a fist, barely fired up with flames, came in contact with his chin, sending him flying back towards his other friends, crashing into a few of them and knocking them out.

Natsu sneered at them and pulled the head of his cloak off, taking a fighting stance.

"Any more?" He challanged, making the other men remain silent. They all looked at eachother, and then burst out laughing. Natsu became confused as he lowered his fists.

The waiter who had served him back then chuckled. "Do you really call yourself a wizard with that little fire of yours?" He said and laughed again alongside with others.

_"I'm so scared!"_

_"He's gonna hurt us!"_

_"Run away everyone!"_

Natsu's hands dropped by his sides as the others kept laughing and mocking him. He felt his heart clench at what they were saying, but he remained silent.

Suddenly, one of the men reached out his hand, grabbing the black cloak he was wearing. Before Natsu could do anything, he pulled it off, letting it fall to the ground.

Instantly, some of them gasped and the others remained silent. Natsu cursed under his breath and quickly put his left gloved arm behind his back, praying they hadn't realized it's unusually large size.

When no one said a thing, he feared they actually _had _seen his arm. However, when they started cackling again, he let out a growl. _What's with them and their laughing?!_

"Haha! He's one of those Fairy Tail losers! No wonder you suck at doing magic, Robin Hood!" Another man said, making him clench his hands into fists once again, nails digging into his palms. _So they saw my guild mark._

"Now for the fun!" The bulky man from before shouted and before Natsu could dodge, he had kicked him in his stomach.

"Gah!" He yelped in pain as his back slammed against the wall. His hands went to his stomach as he trembled in pain. _Dammit! I'm too slow, even to dodge an attack!_

He slid down the wall as he gasped for breath. As soon as he was down, they all gathered around him and started kicking his head and back with their feet.

Natsu growled and let out an angry growl as he kicked them away with the last of his energy, getting back onto his feet.

He spat out some blood and then wiped his mouth. "You're lookin' for a fight, huh?" He said and charged at them.

"You have every right to mock _me_, but don't even think about mocking my guild!" Natsu yelled. "Fire dragon iron fist!"

He threw a punch towards a group of the men. His fist definitly wasn't _engulfed_ in flames like it had to be, but the fire still was boosting his power.

However, his eyes went wide when they easily blocked his punch, one instead landing a punch onto his face.

Once again, he was down. He was already panting, and his vision was getting blurry. He gritted his teeth. _God dammit! I'm so useless! Pathetic! I can't even fight back!_

"Come on, boys, don't let him get back up this time,"

Instantly, kicks and punches were thrown at him again and some even started stomping on his legs and back. He closed his eyes as he let out a yell out of pain. As soon as he wanted to get up, a leg pushed him back down.

He had his left arm placed underneath him as he laid on his stomach, taking every hit as they had their fun. _This feels so wrong, but what can I do?_

The tingling in his left arm was still there, getting more and more second by second. He opened his eyes, looking at his hand. The tip of his claws had torn the glove open, and the glove itself was burned at some places.

"What the hell?" He breathed out. _This hasn't ever happened before! These are magic gloves, it shouldn't have effected it._

He gulped as he pulled off the glove, revealing his dark red hand, alongside with long sharp claws. His hand was glowing red, like fire.

He winced as their attacks became stronger. "Let me go, dammit!" He yelled, but a foot smashed against his head, making him howl in pain.

He felt a trickle of blood starting to run down his forehead as he grunted.

The laughing of the men was echoing in his ears, as well as his own cries of pain. His heart was beating madly in his chest, and for once, his whole body felt scorching hot. _That rarely ever happens! I'm a fire wizard afterall._

"That all ya got, asshole?" One of them taunted.

Then, something snapped inside of him.

He didn't know how, but suddenly, he lost control.

"I said LET GO OF ME!"

His whole body lit up with fire, and the men quickly backed away. However, they were not quick enough as the flames engulfed their bodies, turning them into a mess of ash and bones in a matter of seconds. The other men screamed in terror at the sight.

_'__Now it's your time to suffer!__'_ A voice said in the back of his head. Natsu started panicing, not being able to control himself. It was as if someone was controling his actions. _What the hell is happening to me?! I didn't want it to be like this!_

Still out of control, Natsu let out an animalistic growl as he jumped to his feet and brought his left hand up, swinging it at the other men's faces, cutting through their flesh with his claws.

Natsu looked at them with an emotionless face as they all howled in pain, clutching their bleeding faces as they started burning in the fire as well.

After a few seconds, Natsu suddenly fell to his knees infront of the burned corpses, his eyes wide as he looked at them with a horrified face.

Tears started welling up in his eyes as the whole place kept burning down. The dark red skin on his arm stopped glowing red as he brought it up to his face to look at it.

Tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked at his sharp claws with wide eyes. They were now coated in blood, glistening in the dim light the fire around him was creating.

His hand started trembling as he looked back at the corpses.

_I killed them._

He slowly got to his feet, his whole body cold despite the fire around him as he grabbed his burned backpack and cloak, ready to run.

_I killed them all. _He thought as he trembled, not being able to remove his eyes from the bodies.

He knew he had to run away. Lucky for him, no one else was there to witness all of that. He knew it was his fault, but he didn't _want_ it to happen. He had lost control.

"It wasn't me..," Natsu mumbled as tears rolled down his cheeks. He was shedding tears like a child, but it didn't matter to him.

"If anyone knew it was me, they would kill me. I-I have to go," He said, his voice cracking as he put on his cloak, which barely covered him since it was burned, and ran out of the bar as it burned in his fire.

As soon as he found his way out, he felt the chilly wind blow. The rain was pouring, leaving him drenched. _At least that may put out the fire._

To his suprise, it was deserted and no one was there. He sighed in relief. However, it didn't last for long as he saw a figure peeking at the sight from a corner.

He gasped as his blood ran cold.

_Someone saw all of that._

The figure was wearing a black cloak, just like he was. As soon as they realized his eyes were glued on them, they gasped and ran away into a dark alley.

Natsu was too tired to follow the person. He didn't care anymore, if someone had witnessed him and his etherious self or not.

He started walking away as quick as he could, looking down at his left arm one last time before letting it fall to his side. The dark red colour had spread higher up his arm, way pass his elbow.

To his surprise, his hand wasn't burning hot anymore. It wasn't even burning his clothes. There was just red skin and sharp claws there. _Probably because I finally released what was piled up there for months._

He looked forward with an emotionless face as he ran as fast as he could. "I'm a monster," He mumbled with gritted teeth as he clenched his fist.

He suddenly gasped when the voice from before spoke in the back of his head. He stopped dead in his tracks as he listened with wide eyes.

_'I__ndeed you are, Natsu. You're a demon, remember?__'_

Natsu felt his heart start to beat fastly in his chest again as he took in unsteady breathes.

"Shut up! I'm not a demon!" He yelled. He clutched his head in his hands and pulled at his hair. "Who the hell is that..." He questioned himself in horror.

He just stood there, not realizing the same cloaked figure from before was following him and witnessing every single thing he said and did.

_'__Ah, I'm you, of course. Well, your etherious self, who possessed you back there, and the same one who's going to take over you forever after a while,"_

Natsu's breathing hitched. His head hurt, so much. Who was that? Why was it speaking to him? Was it his own conscious?

His grip on his head got stronger as tears welled up in his eyes again. Back there, when he recieved a kick to his head, he remembered blood trickling down his forehead. It was probably broken, and now that he squeezed it, it just got worse.

"Get the hell out of my head!" He screamed. He knew it was just his conscious, but it felt like someone completely different.

When he pulled his hands back, they were both covered with blood.

"Dammit...There's too much blood...It makes me sick..." He mumbled weakly as his eyes went to his claws, still covered with those men's blood.

He looked up and realized he was once again back at the outskirts of Hargeon.

His breathing hitched as a wave of dizziness washed over him. His hand went back to his head as he winced. _I've probably lost a lot of blood already._

He started tumbling forward as his vision was filled with black spots.

His body collided with the cold hard ground. He felt pain in every single part of his body. _I guess they beat me up pretty badly, huh?_

His eyes closed as everything became silent. _Wouldn't it be better if I just die right here, right now? If I stay alive, I'm going to suffer and make others suffer as well._

Just before he lost consciousness, he heard a faint, yet fammiliar voice call out his name.

"Natsu? What did you do?! Natsu!"


	4. Chapter Four

**_ With Erza and Gray_**

"I don't understand. Where are they?" Erza said as she looked at the empty house in shock, eyes wide as Gray just sighed.

"No clue. Not only Natsu, but also Happy. Both gone," Gray mumbled, pushing his hands into his pockets as he huffed.

"Now I'm actually getting worried," Mira said and sighed. Erza started walking towards the wooden chairs in the middle of the room and gently touched it, letting her hand rest there.

"The real question is why they didn't inform us they were leaving so suddenly," Erza said, and Mira nodded.

"Do you think it has something to do with his weird behaviour over the past months?" Gray asked as he tapped a foot against the floor.

"Probably," Erza mumbled, then gritted her teeth, clenching her hands into fists. "We should have asked him about it," She said with anger.

"You guys already tried that many times, Erza, and he didn't ever say anything. Whatever happened back then a few months ago, it started changing him, but that's not your fault. Don't you dare blame yourselves," Mira said, placing a hand on Erza's shoulder as she gave her a smile.

Erza sighed and Gray remained silent. "You're right. I just don't get it. We're friends, he would have told us. Doesn't he trust us enough?" Erza said, but without waiting for a response, she started walking out of the house, fists still clenched.

Mira and Gray looked at eachother and then began heading outside. When they were outside, they realized Erza was already gone. "Huh? Where'd she go?" Gray asked, gritting his teeth.

Mira sighed. "I don't know,"

Gray sighed as well. "But I think I do," He said.

* * *

"If I was not in a hurry, then I definitly would have packed more," Erza groaned, realizing how little stuff she had packed compared to the other times she went away.

She stood up and grabbed her large bag in her hand as she started walking out of her house.

"...However, I need to go as fast as I can so no one else follows me," Erza said to no one in particular as she speed walked through the woods.

She knew going with a few other guildmates would have been easier, but she didn't know what she would be getting herself into.

She sighed. _And because of that, I can't let anyone come along with me. They would just get in trouble and-_

"Where do you think you're going?" Gray's voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts, making her back stiffen.

However, she recovered quickly from the shock and growled as she turned back to face him. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was gazing at her with a questioning look.

"What do you want, Gray? Why did you follow me?" She asked as she stopped walking, looking at him dead in the eye.

"I already know you're going after Flame brain, but think about it. Him and Happy just may be going for a little break to some nearby town, or maybe on a job,"

Erza's look hardened. "If he had gone on any jobs, Mira would've told us," She said. "Also, how do you explain the empty house?"

"But you don't even know where they are! There are several towns in Fiore that they could have gone to! How do you plan on finding them?" Gray asked, his voice getting slightly louder.

She just looked at him with a blank expression for a few seconds. "Then I'll just go and look for them, until I find them," She said and turned around, walking away.

Gray hissed. "You're not serious, are you? It'll take a long time this way!"

Erza didn't look back as she walked. "Stop trying to convince me not to go, Gray, and don't you dare following me," Erza said as she waved her hand, disapearing behind the trees.

He crossed his arms. "Fine, have it your way," He said and turned back, walking towards the guild with a frown as Erza's last words came back to him.

_And don't you dare following me!_

Gray huffed. "Huh. Like I'd ever do that,"

* * *

Mira rose an eyebrow. "What? She left to find him?" She asked as Gray nodded with a frown.

"Yeah, she did. I wouldn't be suprised if she actually found him though, she's not the type to give up," He said and Mira hummed in agreement.

"But why not join her? It would be easier that way, you know," Mira suggested, making him scoff.

"Like I would actually do that. I've already saved Natsu's butt too many times to count during our other quests. It'd just be boring to do it again," He said and Mira frowned.

He continued. "...And if by any chance he's gone on a job, he's an idiot to think he could do it alone. It's so boring to watch him go down for the count with a punch or two," He finished, taking a sip of the water.

"That couldn't be it, Gray. I would have noticed if he took a job," She said, but then giggled at him as he watched the ice cubes float on top of the water.

"Say, Gray, don't you have any favorite drinks? You've always just wanted water," She said with a smile.

"Nah, I don't. Water's fine," He simply answered, not even lifting his gaze up from the glass.

Mira sighed, her thoughts going back to Natsu again. "To think about it, none of us know what _actually_ is wrong with Natsu. It can't be an illness, because it wouldn't have lasted for six months." She said.

She put a finger to her chin. "What can it be then?"

"Hey, Mira, Gray!" A cheerful voice called out her name, making her look up to see who it was.

It was Levy, alongside with Jet and Droy. The two males simply waved their hands and then, walked away to a table.

"Oh, hi Levy, Jet, Droy," Mira greeted. "Back already from the job?"

Levy smiled and nodded. "Yeah. It was pretty simple. We just had to beat up the bad guys who had kidnapped a little boy. His parents were pretty worried about him, and they wanted him back," Levy explained.

Gray rolled his eyes. "Tch. I sometimes wonder why anyone would ask for _help _from a _dark_ guild," He mumbled to himself, making sure no one else heard it.

Mira smiled warmly at her. "I'm glad you were a help to them. So? Any reward? Did they offer jewels?" She asked hopefully for the sake of her own friend, but Levy just sighed with a small smile.

"Actually, no," She said and looked down, the smile still visible on her lips.

Gray sighed. "Typical,"

Levy looked up, her smile widening. "But they _did _treat us with a nice meal as a thank you. It doesn't really matter to me. I find it rewarding to help others without expecting anything in return."

Then, the blue haired wizard looked around. "So anyway, where's Erza? She should be around here somewhere talking with you two," She questioned.

Before Mira could answer, Levy then looked at the table at the corner of the guildhall, which was far away from all the other tables, dark and covered by shadows.

"...Plus, I don't see Natsu sitting in his special spot, drowning in his black cloak," She said with a bit of sarcasm, yet worry in her voice.

Mira took in a deep breath. "We found out that Natsu had disapeared from his house alongside with Happy this morning. His house was almost empty, in fact," Mira explained and Levy gasped.

"What? Why?" She asked and Mira chuckled. "Actually, that's why Erza isn't here. Right after she knew he was gone, she went after him," She said and Levy went silent.

When no one spoke, Mira went away to take care of another guild member's drink.

"Hey Levy," Gray called, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" Levy said taking a seat on a chair next to the counter and infront of him.

"The last few weeks before Natsu disapeared, he would always go to the storage- where we have all those books- and come back after a short while. You were there most of the time, right? Do you know what he read?" Gray asked, thinking of any possible way of finding the truth.

Levy hummed. "Now that you mention it, I remember! He was always reading books related to Zeref and his demons, specifically about the members of Tartaros," She said, and Gray's eyes went wide.

_Zeref? Tartaros? What the hell?!_

"Tartaros? You mean the same demons that are running loose in Fiore right now?" He asked, and she nodded.

He quickly stood up from his chair and started to walk away. "Wait! Where are you going?" Levy said, but he kept walking.

"To the library." He said. "I think I'm going to find plenty of useful things to answer our questions,"

* * *

"I don't get it. Why does he want to know about Zeref and his demons?" He said outloud as he sat down behind a table were several books were piled up.

He then growled. "...And to think he would actually _read. _That's the last thing I'd expect _him _to do," He said and looked at the books.

At each corner of the table, there were a few books on top of eachother. _Probably, each pile of books belongs to someone who seats in the chair infront of them. Natsu's has to be one of them._

Gray reached out to the first books that were neatly placed on top of eachother. He already doubted it was Natsu's, because _'neat'_ was something he would never be.

He gagged as he skipped through each book. "I didn't know someone was into romance in here," He mumbled and put the books back in their place.

He knew the second pile of books was out of question, because they were all written in an ancient language he didn't know a thing of.

At the third corner of the table, there were two books on top of eachother. The books looked pretty old and they weren't placed neatly on top of one another. _Judging by the looks of it, I think this is it._

When he opened the first book, he wasn't suprised much to see that every part of the book said something about the members of Tartaros. Each member's powers were described, as well as their names.

The second book looked as if it had been read through multiple times. He was shocked to find out the book mostly gave information about Zeref's strongest demon, E.N.D.

"What the hell does he have to do with E.N.D?" He said through gritted teeth as his eyes traveled across the pages. He knew E.N.D was a fire demon, and that was all.

There were some pictures which caught his eye. They were detailed drawings of what others probably thought looked like the demon.

It had horns, and except his human-like upper body, its arms and legs were burning red along with sharp claws. The human in the drawing had black hair and frightening eyes, and his canine teeth were peeking from his mouth.

Gray sighed and put aside the book, only to stop when a piece of paper fell out from it.

He leaned down and picked up the paper. He rose an eyebrow. "A Plant?" He mumbled in shock.

It was a drawing of a plant with five leaves. It had a colour of dark green and dark blue mixed with eachother. There was nothing written on the paper. However, he could tell that it was ripped from some other book. _It must be something important then, huh?_

He pushed the paper into his pocket and walked out of the storage to the guild hall. Mira popped up beside him with a worried look.

"Levy told me you went to the library. Did you find out anything?" She asked with hope in her eyes.

"Nothing important, just this," Gray said and went to pull out the piece of paper from his pocket, but he gasped when his hand touched bare skin.

"Dammit, I stripped again. Sorry Mira," He groaned and left for the storage once more, grabbing his clothes and then exiting the guild, not bothering to tell anything to Mira.

He started walking in the direction of Natsu and Happy's house once again as he inspected the plant closely. It wasn't like anything it had ever seen. However, he knew something.

To him, it seemed more like a _herb _than a normal plant.

He went deep in thought again. _But then again, that stupid pyro wasn't ill! Why would he ever need an herb to cure himself or someone?_

He was snapped out of his thoughts when his head slammed against Natsu's front door. "Ow," He mumbled as he rubbed his head, but then opened the door, going inside.

_I have to look for anything that might be a clue to him. _He thought as he looked at the empty kitchen, going for the cabinets.

He opened the first cabinet and started coughing as dust came from the inside. He waved his hand infront of his face and sneezed, looking inside the cabinet. Empty.

It didn't suprise him that all the other cabinets were empty as well. However, he frowned. _Why isn't there anything? He couldn't have kept the things he ate in some other place, right? This is the kitchen afterall._

He walked back to the living room. _Me and Erza saw him last night at the guild, but he was in a rush. He said that he wanted to take care of something, probably leaving for good._

He sighed as he looked under the sofa, but nothing was there. _Since he was here just last night, then he definitly would have had something to eat. But those cabinets looked like they had been empty for months._

He walked towards Natsu's room, where his wooden bed was. Other than that, it was empty. Or that's what he thought.

He sighed when he didn't find anything and went to the window near his bed, looking out at the orange leaved trees. The sun had almost set, and the sky was going dark.

Winter would be coming soon, and it was going to be a hard time for all of the Fairy Tail members, given how they were low on money.

Not to mention, the cold was coming up, so other than food and other expenses, they had to take care of the cold as well. Gray felt lucky to be an ice wizard, because he would be immune to the cold.

"Just where the heck is he?" He mumbled and turned back, only to bump his foot into something on the ground.

"Huh?" He said and crouched down, picking it up. Its dark colour blended in with the shadows and he hadn't seen it before. "What is this?"

His eyes widened. "...A black glove?"

* * *

"This plant is certainly a rare one, Gray. Even I haven't ever seen one with my own eyes," Porlyusika said as she narrowed her eyes at the drawing Gray was showing her.

"I'm not suprised," Gray simply replied, his hand droping back to his side. "Whoever I asked about this plant from said they don't even know it,"

Porlyusika put a finger to her chin. "_I_ may not know, but I think I can find some information about it in one of my books," She said, going towards her bookshelf containing countless books.

Gray crossed his arms as he starred at her with a bored expression. It was almost midnight, and he was still outside at the east forest, looking for someone who knew of the plant.

He stood up and walked towards the old wizard, grabbing the glove. "Hey Porlyusika," He called and she hummed, still searching for the book.

"Is this...a _normal_ glove?" Gray asked with doubt and she turned around, taking a glance at it.

"I believe not. I assume it's a magic glove, to be exact. To hold in extreme fire magic, judging by the material," She replied.

Gray gasped, eyes going wide. _Extreme fire magic? That makes sense now, since he's a fire wizard. It definitly belongs to him then._

He gritted his teeth. _But then, why would he want to 'hold in' his magic power with a magic glove?_

He narrowed his eyes at the glove. _E.N.D had 'extreme fire magic', didn't he? And Natsu was reading a book about him out of all people. _

He groaned as he clutched his head in his hands. _Also, where is the other glove? There must have been a pair of them!_

"Are you alright?" Porlyusika asked, making him sigh and look up to see her with a rather old book in hands. She started looking in its pages, looking for the special plant.

"I'm fine, I just got confused for a moment about something," He said and she frowned.

"So, as you explained before, Natsu's gone? I still feel angry at him for not letting me check him to see if there's anything wrong," She said with anger, closing her eyes.

Gray hissed at the memory. "Tch, don't remind me,"

—

_"Gah!" Natsu let out a groan out of pain as he crashed to the ground by the force of Gray's punch._

_The ice wizard smiled smugly. "You lost again, squinty eyes,"_

_Natsu got back onto his feet as he panted for air, not facing him. He wrapped his arms around himself as he trembled slightly, both from the chilliness of Gray's ice and out of pain._

_Without saying another word, Natsu turned around and started walking away quietly, not even giving a sassy comeback._

_Gray sighed. "Ugh, he's no longer fun to beat up. So wea-OW!"_

_Erza growled at him as she hit him in the head with the back of her sword. "What did I tell you about picking fights with him, Gray? It'll probably make him worse," _

_Gray hissed in pain as he rubbed his head, glaring at her. He snapped out of his anger when he saw Porlyusika walking bebind her._

_"Why is she here?" He whispered and she sighed. "I asked her to come. Maybe Natsu would let her inspect him to see if he's got an illness or not," _

_Erza then speed walked towards Natsu, with Gray and Porlyusika trailing behind. She put a hand on his shoulder, making him turn around and face her._

_"Erza? What are you-" He suddenly winced in pain and Erza frowned as he held his side. "...Doing here?"_

_"Are you alright? You seem out of shape. Porlyusika's here to see you, to check if you are sick or not," She said, looking down at his slightly bruised body. _

_She took note of how quickly he hid his left arm behind himself when he realized she was looking._

_"I-I'm fine. Just a bit- Hey! What are you doing?!" He exclaimed as she grabbed hold of his left hand, pulling it forward to look at it. "Is your arm hurt?"_

_Natsu began to stiffen as her eyes landed on his dark red fingertips. He tried to pull his hand back, but no avail._

_"What happened to your fingers?" She asked with a frown. Gray caught up with her with crossed arms as Porlyusika stood back._

_"I obviously didn't do that since it looks more like a burn, and I'm not a fire mage," Gray said and rolled his eyes, making Natsu growl._

_"It actually is a burn, as he said. I hurt my hand during a quest with Happy and it still hasn't healed. I don't need that healer around," Natsu said, eyes locked with Erza's._

_He continued __furiously__. "Also, don't get all worried about me whenever I get in a fight, Erza. I'm not a baby. I don't like it when people show me pity, and you know that very well," He spat._

_With that, he jerked his arm out of her grasp and walked away, leaving the two with wide eyes. _

_—_

Porlyusika sighed. "Anyway, here it is," She said.

"As you had guessed, it's an herb. It says that when a demon is taking over someone, specially their apearance, this plant comes in handy since it can make the features of the demon get wiped away from the person's body," She explained and Gray gasped softly at the new information.

She continued. "It also mentions that this plant can be found in the forest near the outskirts of Hargeon, which is currently cursed by one of the members of Ta-"

She stopped reading out loud when the ice mage stood up sharply, heading for the door.

"That's all I needed. Thanks a ton, Porlyusika," He said and ran outside, glad that the healer's house wasn't much far away from Fairy Tail, and his house.

He entered his own house and quickly packed, putting his small bag on cross-bodied, running out to the guild. He opened the doors and peeked his head inside, deciding to let them know he's going away.

Everyone's attention snapped to him as he stood in the doorway. Mira rose an eyebrow.

"I'm off, Mira," He simply said and then, ran out. Mira sighed.

"I knew he was going to go after them in the end," She said with a smile.

Gray stopped after a good twenty minutes of running until he was at the outskirts of Magnolia.

The forest leading to Hargeon, which was the same one with the plants in it, was at his right, and if he ran down the same path, he would be at the Magnolia train station.

He took out the black glove from his bag and narrowed his eyes. It was obvious it was for the right hand, not the left, probably the one Natsu had with him.

"Now that I think about it, I actually _have _seen him with one of these before. With the glove that is for the left hand," He mumbled.

"...He was always hiding his left arm behind himself, and he would never use it to attack during fights." He said and remembered what Porlyusika had said.

_It's used for holding in extreme fire magic._

He snapped out of his thoughts, careful not to strip so others wouldn't see his guild mark. Even though the streets were deserted, he wouldn't risk.

It was already an hour or two after midnight, and he was tired. However, he slapped a hand on his cheek to make the sleep go away.

"Okay. If I was Natsu, and I wanted to go to Hargeon and the forest near it, what would I do?" He asked himself.

There was two options. He had eiher gone by train, or just by foot from the forest. Gray sighed.

"Well, since I have motion sickness and I hate trains, I'd prefer going by foot." He said and with that, disapeared into the forest.


	5. Chapter Five

**_ With Happy and Natsu _**

**(a few hours before present time, the night Natsu left for Hargeon)**

Happy looked at his pink haired friend as he put his black cloak on, putting the hood on his head. A dim light from the sunset was filling the room, getting less and less as the sky went dark.

The blue exceed's eyes followed Natsu around as he hurriedly put a few bottles of water and some food into his backpack, alongside with his usuall brown blanket.

He still couldn't believe Natsu was leaving, _without _him.

When Natsu told him he had found a cure to his problem, he had felt more than happy. Natsu had _finally_ found a way to make the weird red markings on his hands go away.

He had explained that it would take a few days, maybe even a week or two, to come back. It was all good, until Natsu stated that Happy could not come with him.

The exceed's eyes widened as Natsu swung the backpack onto his shoulders, and then glanced at his left hand.

Happy knew he was the only one, besides Natsu himself, that knew about the dark red colour covering his arm until the elbow, and the sharp claws that had grown on his fingertips instead of normal nails. Happy sniffled. _Why did this have to happen to him?_

Natsu gritted his teeth and tore his eyes from his left arm, grabbing the pair of black magic gloves. He picked out the one for the left hand and put it on. The glove was quite long, since it was covering his arm all the way to his biceps.

Happy sometimes wondered how a _glove _could hold in the power of E.N.D. _Maybe his power is still too weak. Those gloves were actually pretty expensive to buy. No wonder they can hold in a lot of magic power. _He thought.

Natsu threw the other glove beside his wooden bed, not needing it. Only his left arm had changed angway.

Tears started gathering in the exceed's eyes as Natsu started walking out of the room and towards the front door.

Happy could barely hold in the tears. _Natsu said it was for my own safety, but I don't believe it. He would never leave without me! He would never do something without me being with him!_

Happy sniffled again. _He's too weak to be on his own right now. He can't protect himself. If I'm not there, he could get hurt._

"Natsu! Y-You're not really going, are you?" Happy said, finally bursting into tears as he looked at the dragon slayer.

"I'm sorry, buddy." He said, walking over to the blue exceed.

"...But we talked about this, didn't we?" He said as he put his hand on the exceed's head.

He smiled. "I've finally found a way to treat this thing. That's why I have to go. As soon as I find that herb, I will come back to Fairy Tail!" Natsu said and grinned at him goofily.

Happy let out a cry as he jumped at Natsu, clinging to his white scarf as he cried again.

"F-Fine, but you promised to come back Natsu! You have to come back home, Natsu!" Happy cried and heard Natsu sigh.

_You have to promise me not to get hurt, Natsu! You have to come back safe and sound!_

"I...I promise." Natsu said, and Happy could hear him as he inhaled sharply.

"I promise I will come back."

And with that, he was gone.

* * *

It had been about an hour or two since Natsu had left, and the sky was already pitch black. Judging by how cloudy it had been the whole day, Happy could say it was going to rain soon.

Happy sighed. Natsu had said his first destination was Hargeon. It wasn't much far from Magnolia, so he had to be there by now. At least, the exceed _hoped _he was.

When they were back at Fairy Tail's storage room a few days ago, reading through some books, Natsu read about a plant that could heal him.

The plant had five leaves, and it was a dark bluish green. The book said that when a demon was taking over a person, specially their apearance, this plant would come in handy. Apparently, it could make the features of the demon get wiped away from the person's body.

The forest near Hargeon was the first place Natsu was going to check sice it was also the nearest. By what Happy knew, the forest was cursed by an ice demon, who was a member of Tartaros.

Eventhough Natsu was a fire wizard, Happy was worried that the cold would effect him in some way. Afterall, the forest was completely frozen.

Natsu was currently too weak for that. However, it was strange to know that by a touch of his left hand, he could melt things in seconds, but other than that, his magic power was beyond weak.

Happy sighed. He was currently laying on his back, starring up at the wooden ceiling as he opened his eyes.

"I already miss him," He mumbled and felt his small hands begining to shake. He wanted to cry, but he didn't. He gulped down the lump in his throat, standing up. The emptiness of the house almost scared him.

Happy's stomach growled, but he knew they didn't have anything to eat. It had been about a month since the house became like this, completely empty.

When Natsu's magic power got weak, everything started going downhill. No more quests, no more jobs, no more jewels. As much as he needed the money for both himself and Happy, he couldn't risk his life by taking a quest he couldn't do.

Even the easiest quests were hard for him, so it became hard to make a living. It felt like decades before when they feasted on a large amount of different foods at fancy restaurants.

Happy knew Natsu hated relying on Gray and Erza by going on quests with them. But he had no choice. In fact, they all knew it was to help Natsu. Gray, Erza, Happy and even Natsu himself knew it.

They only took quests with eachother so they could devide the reward in the end, eventhough Gray and Erza did most of the work.

Natsu was always angry and blamed himself about it, but Happy wouldn't say anything. The dragon slayer would sometimes even say that he didn't _deserve_ the reward he got.

After a while when things got worse, Natsu had no choice but to start _selling_ his belongings.

It started with the oven, which they used to cook food on, and after a few months, he was even selling his clothes. Happy knew they were _poor, _but it didn't matter by then. They had eachother afterall, and that's what mattered.

However, everything changed when not only Natsu's power drained more, but also, those red markings started apearing on his fingertips, along with sharp looking claws.

He started changing. Not just his apearance, but also his personality.

He was always in a bad mood, but he would still remain calm, which was strange. He drifted apart from the others, and didn't talk back to Gray anymore when he said something.

After a few months, the energetic, loud and positive mage was long gone. He would no longer pick fights, not even with Gray. He seemed strangely matured as well.

Not like him at _all._

The sound of his stomach growling made him snap out of his thoughts. Happy wiped away his tears and tried to ignore the hunger as he stood up.

"H-He may not be able to trust any of the other guild members with his secret yet," Happy choked out as he felt the urge to cry again.

"...But I won't leave him alone, no matter what. Not even if he doesn't _want _me with him," He said as he grabbed his small green backpack, just in case, running outside.

He was instantly met with the cold, making him shiver. He desparetly tried to ignore the low temperatire as he started flying towards Hargeon.

"I wonder if he can survive this cold," Happy mumbled as he kept flying over the road that led to the town. _I have a feeling the sky is safer than the ground at the moment, considering how those Tartaros members are lurking around._

The road leading to Hargeon was quite long, and the trees were at either sides of it. Happy knew this forest was the same forest Natsu had said he was going through, but it would be too dangerous and cold for himself. And because of that, he had decided that taking the road would be the better choice.

* * *

The exceed didn't know for how long he kept flying. All he knew was that his wings were growing tired by the second. _It's probably been two or three hours, maybe even more__._

From far ahead, he could see Hargeon. He knew it would take at least ten more minutes to get there. Even though it wasn't a big amount of time, he was still scared. Small yet cold raindrops were already falling onto his back, and he assumed soon it would be pouring.

His whole body felt numb from the chilliness, and his wings were aching in pain. It was a surprise to him that he still had the energy to fly, considering his stomach was empty.

"J-Just hang o-on Happy...Only A Few Minutes Until T-There..." Happy mumbled, teeth clacking against eachother. After what seemed like forever, he was finally there, at Hargeon.

Instantly, his eyes caught sight of smoke in the air. He followed the cloud of smoke down until his eyes met a rather big shop, which was on _fire_. A huge fire at that.

Eventhough he knew it was strange, he sighed in relief and flew towards the building as the rain got harder, hoping to get some warmth.

The rain was putting out the fire, so he hurried before the flames were all gone. His wings disapeared as he landed right next to the pile of ash and burnt wood. Eventhough the scent of all the smoke wasn't pleasant, it still was _warm._

"Ah, so warm," Happy said as he leaned towards the fire with his small arms infront of him.

Suddenly, a fammiliar voice could be heard from not far away.

"Shut up! I'm not a demon!"

Happy's back stiffened. "...Natsu?" He mumbled, completely forgetting about the cold, _and _also about his words.

He flew up the burning shop quickly yet carefully, and gasped at the sight. _It actually is Natsu! I didn't expect to find him so quickly though._

Happy smiled widely at the sight of his friend, gasping in joy. He flew down to the street, his feet making contact with the wet surface once again.

He was about to call out Natsu's name, put stopped dead in his tracks as the dragon slayer's hands went to his head, clutching it tightly as he pulled at his hair.

"Who the hell is that..." Natsu choked out, voice laced with fear.

Happy didn't know why, but his breathing hitched, and he could no longer even open his mouth to call out his name.

Happy started quietly taking steps towards Natsu, not caring if he could hear his footsteps or not. When he was about five feet away from him, he stopped and just looked at him silently.

Natsu's grip on his head got tighter. By how he was shaking, Happy could say he was crying.

The exceed's eyes widened when drops of red liquid started falling from Natsu's head, staining the ground. _Blood._

"Get the hell out of my head!" Natsu screamed once again, and Happy felt a shiver run down his spine at his voice.

It sounded so...

_Pained._

Natsu then pulled his hands back from his head, starring at his left hand with wide eyes.

Happy's eyes went even wider at the sight. His sharp claws were all coated with blood, and the dark red markings on his arm had spread up his elbow a bit more than it was before.

"Dammit...There's too much blood...It makes me sick..." Natsu mumbled, and Happy felt tears running down his cheeks at Natsu's weak voice.

_I knew he was going to get hurt. I shouldn't have let him leave._

Happy snapped out of his thoughts. He couldn't move as suddenly, Natsu started tumbling forward. Everything went in slow motion as his body collided with the ground.

Happy let out a cry as he ran towards Natsu as fast as his small feet could carry him.

"Natsu?" He called as he put his paws on Natsu's shoulder, turning him around so he was no longer laying face down.

"...What did you do?!" Happy yelled, shaking him as tears freely escaped his eyes. However, the pink haired male didn't reply.

"Natsu!" He called, but he didn't get any response.

There was a large gash on the side of his head, blood oozing out of it, making his hair turn dark red instead of pink. Happy began panicing when a trail of blood began rolling down the side of his face.

He grunted as he pushed Natsu into a sitting position, holding his back. He winced in pain as he tucked out his wings once again, begining to carry Natsu as he flew.

It wasn't a meter away when his wings disapeared, sending them both to the ground. Happy gasped, ignoring the pain in his own body as he rushed to Natsu's side again. "I'm so sorry Natsu..." He mumbled, looking around in panic.

The sky started to barely light up, signalling that the morning was finally there. The light of the sun was weakly shining through the cloudy sky. The rain was slowing down, but that's when he realized it was turning into snow.

Happy grunted again as he started dragging Natsu towards the inside of the town, passing the burnt building. _I wonder if that had anything to do with Natsu._

It was already dawn, but no one was outside. It was quite suprising. "Why isn't there anybody? Anyone to help him out?" Happy said sadly as he looked around, not seeing a soul.

Suddenly, a soft, female voice spoke behind him.

"Hey little guy, want me to help?"

Happy turned around. It was a girl with long blond hair, wearing a black cloak. She smiled at him, her brown eyes filled with kindness.

"U-Uh, yeah," Happy simply answered, letting the mysterious girl put her arms under Natsu's, lifting him up slightly from the ground as she started dragging him away, towards another street. Happy followed silently, thankful that someone was there to help.

The blond frowned as she looked at Natsu's face, which was pale and scrunched up in pain. "Your friend doesn't look very good," She said, picking her pace.

"W-Who are you?" Happy finally asked, making her smile brightly at him again.

"The name's Lucy!" She beamed happily. "What's yours? I'm guessing you're an exceed?"

"A-Aye. My name is Happy," He said in a tired voice. "And he is Natsu," He mumbled, pointing his paw at Natsu, who was still being dragged by the girl.

She smiled again. "Okay then, I'm going to take care of your friend. Don't worry, 'kay Happy?" She asked, making him nod.

He knew it was a bit reckless to trust a stranger, but she seemed awfully kind, which made him want to trust her. It wasn't like he had any choice though. Natsu had already lost a lot of blood, and it would be dangerous if he lost more. She was there to help, so why not let her?

"Aye," He replied at her previous question, following her towards an inn. _That's probably where she stays._

She opened the door and peeked inside. She had to make sure the person in charge wasn't there. Otherwise, she knew he would blame her for making a mess of all the blood he was loosing.

"Psst," She called, making Happy look at her. "Help me put him on my back. There are stairs over there. I can't just drag him," Lucy said, and Happy nodded.

Lifting Natsu up, he put her on her back and she held onto his legs, running into the building and up the stairs.

At the third floor, she stopped, panting. She kicked the door open with her foot and stepped in, not caring about how her shoulders were covered in his blood.

She placed him on the ground and Happy stepped inside the room. There was luggage around the room, meaning she was just staying there temporarily.

She quickly grabbed rolls of bandages and some water, rushing to his side. She dipped a piece of cloth into the water and started quickly wiping away the blood from his face.

"You're so kind, Lucy. Thank you," Happy said and Lucy didn't reply, too focused on taking care of the dragon slayer.

Despite how nice she was, Happy couldn't shake off the feeling that she already _knew _he needed help from the start.

It seemed almost as if she was right there, _waiting_ for him to ask for help.

He shook his head, interrupting his thoughts. _I should go and get help from either Erza or Gray. I can't take it anymore. I can't let him do this alone. _

Happy tucked out his wings. _I've got to go get one of them to take him back home. He can't stay here with this stranger forever. At least, now I know he'll be fine for now. I hope she doesn't hurt him._

"Where are you going?" Lucy asked Happy as she stopped wiping the blood away.

"I'm going to get one of our friends to get him back home," Happy said and flew out of the window.

Eventhough he was still hungry, he had a bit of his energy back. Back then, worried and drenched in water, he couldn't fly properly from the panic, but now he was better. _I have to get help._

Lucy hummed as Happy flew out of the room by the window. The chilliness from the outside was rushing in through it, and she clutched the cloak tighter to her body as she wiped away the blood on his forehead, quickly taking out the bandages.

Just before she put them on, she gasped. "Ah! I completely forgot!"

She quickly threw the cloak off her body, making sure it was out of sight. She then leaned in close towards his face and narrowed her eyes with focus as she put started putting on the bandage.

Then, his eyes snapped open.

_A girl? What the hell?!_

He quickly sat up, making his head smash into hers. She groaned in pain.

After recovering from the pain, she blinked at him in surprise. _How the heck is he even awake?! He lost plenty of blood, and I still haven't done anything to help him!_

Natsu growled in pain as he looked at the girl. She was holding her forehead with her hand, her long blond hair free on her back. Her other hand was grasping a white cloth, tinted with what he assumed was blood.

He quickly rose to his feet, but winced as his vision filled with dark spots, his head feeling heavy. His whole body felt cold, and he already regreted standing up.

However, he knew he couldn't trust the girl. As far as he remembered, he was supposed to be on the ground near the forest at the outskirts of Hargeon. But here he was, standing in a fancy room with a blond girl smiling at him for no reason.

"Who the hell are you?!" Natsu asked, pulling his cloak close to his body as he tried covering his arm. Even if it was a _girl, _she could still be dangerous in this situation, where he was _weak_.

However, without waiting for a reply, he dashed for the window, making her eyes go wide. "No! Wait!"

Natsu jumped out of the window, not so gracefully lamding on the ground, which was covered with a thick layer of snow. _Great. It was raining, and now it's snowing too._

He stood up and ran towards the forest, trying to get away from the girl. Events of the last night began rushing back to his head. The men's screams, their howls of pain, the sound of his claws tearing through their flesh. It was all echoing in his head.

It felt so hard to try not to let his 'conscious' speak in his head again, but he still did it anyway. He decided not to look down at his left arm. He didn't want to make himself feel even worse abour what wasn't his fault.

"Wait up! You'll loose more blood! I still haven't patched up your wounds! You're hurt!" The girl called, running after him. He growled as he turned away, entering the forest.

_I don't give a damn if I'm hurt. I came here to just get that herb and run away from Fairy Tail forever for the sake of others, so that's what I'll do. _

He gasped for breath as he kept running. _I don't care about last night's events, either. It was not me._

Eventhough he felt dizzy, he kept running. He looked back, only to realize the blond girl was _still_ following him.

"Dammit!" He cursed and ran faster, trying to get away from him. _Why the hell is she chasing after me? Such a weirdo__!_

"You will die, dammit!" She yelled with slight worry, and that was the last thing he heard of her before he lost her.

After about fifteen minutes of walking away, he slowed down and doubled over with his a hand on his knee. His other hand rested on a tree as he tried to catch his breath, but it didn't seem to work.

He frowned. "Tch, I can't even walk without running out of breath," He mumbled, angry at himself.

Natsu saw the white snow he was standing on turn into a dark pink as drops of blood fell from his head and onto the ground. His eyes went wide. _Not blood again._

He gritted his teeth as his vision grew hazy once again. "I've lost too much blood. At this rate, I'm going to die," He mumbled and collapsed to the ground, landing on the soft snow.

He grunted at the pain at his head. Everything began to turn black. _If I pass out now, I probably won't wake up. It's too cold in here, I'm going to freeze._

He sighed as his eyes closed. _It doesn't matter. It's better if I die anyway._

The blond girl's words ran through his head.

_"You will die, dammit!"_

He smiled weakly. "Guess she was right,"

* * *

"Jeez, this place seems like a never ending frozen maze," Gray said as he walked through the snow slowly.

"All the trees look the same and it's too quiet. I wouldn't be surprised if I was walking in circles," He mumbled and then sighed.

It was about two hours, or maybe more, since he had left Magnolia for Hargeon in search of Natsu.

"That ash for brains is going to owe me big time for saving his ass again," Gray said. "He's probably somewhere, getting himself into trouble. I can't believe I actually came all the way here looking for him,"

He pushed his hands inside his pockets, the weather a little cold, even for him. Snowflakes kept falling from the sky, making the layer of snow get thicker and thicker.

Gray's thoughts went back to Erza, and how she had gone off so suddenly.

"I wonder where _she _is right now. I hope she isn't _actually _going to search the whole Fiore for them," He said, looking forward at the frozen trees.

"She sounded so-" He stopped talking to himself when his foot bumped against something on the ground.

He looked down and narrowed his eyes. It was covered with plenty of snow, and he couldn't see what it was. However, it seemed quite _big _in size.

He crouched down next to the pile of snow and gently pushed the snow away from it with his hand, revealing pink strands of hair.

His eyes went wide.

"What the hell?" He breathed out. "Natsu?"


	6. Chapter Six

**_ With Erza**** _**

"Had I known it was going to be this hard to get to Hargeon at this season, I wouldn't have taken this path," The red haired mage said as she requiped into clothes which covered her body more.

"...The train would've been easier, but of course, he couldn't have gotten away by it because of his motion sickness," Erza mumbled to herself through gritted teeth as she shivered slightly because of the cold.

"How reckless of me to come here all on my own without a plan. I didn't even bring a map with myself. I was blinded by my worry for Natsu when he wasn't there," She said, shaking her head.

"Gray was right. I don't even know _where_ he is," She continued, thoughts going back to a few hours ago.

_After Gray was finally out of her sight, she sighed and started walking._

_"Okay, now, where to go?" She questioned herself and put a finger to her chin._

_"Hmm, he could've gone to many towns in Fiore. Crocus, Hargeon, the village of the Sun, Margaret Town, or maybe even to mountain Hak__obe..."_

_After a minute of thinking, she looked up and picked up her pace slightly. "Mountain Hakobe, Crocus and the others are too far away. He couldn't have gotten that far within only a few hours," She said._

_She continued. "...Hargeon and Margaret Town are near Magnolia, so the chance of him going there is higher,"_

_She suddenly halted and glanced at her left arm, where her guild mark was. "However, I have to be careful so people don't notice my guild mark__. Also, Lamia Scale is at Margaret, so I have to be extra cautious,"_

_She sighed and clapped her hands, a confident smile making it's way onto her lips. "Very well. I'll head for Hargeon first. It's closer to Magnolia and this same road leads to it," She said, but then frowned._

_"This road however, passes through that cursed forest. Shall I take it or not?"_

A sudden chilly wind blew, smacking snow flakes into her face. She blocked them with her arm and cursed.

"I hope Gray doesn't act reckless and come after me, eventhough this cold wouldn't bother him much," She said, and looked up at the cloudy sky. She rose an eyebrow at the sight.

"Is that..," She mumbled, eyes glued on an exceed flying. "Happy?"

Her eyes widened when she realized it was indeed Happy. No matter how hard it was to run in knee-deep snow, she chased after the blue cat.

She took note of how much pain he seemed to be in while flying, and how he shivered, probably of the cold.

He seemed to be in a hurry to go somewhere, and his whole face was twisted in what seemed like worry. _This road leads back to Magnolia. Is he heading back to the guild?_

Erza was about to call out to him, not being able to run anymore as her legs were feeling numb from the cold. Sun was barely shining through the dark clouds, but it didn't seem to produce much warmth.

Suddenly, Happy's wings disapeared, and he fell to the ground somewhere far from her, probably landing on the snow. Erza gasped when she heard the soft thud of his fall.

She walked towards him faster, careful not to tangle herself in the tree branches. _I hope he's not injured because of all the trees. Thank god there was snow under him._

_Poor thing. He must be really tired and worn out to pass out like this. It might be because of the cold as well._

She frowned as she became closer to him. _But why is he even here? Gray said he was gone with Natsu. Then why are they apart? _

She gritted her teeth as the blue exceed finally came into sight. _He seems to be coming from Hargeon, though, since this path leads to it. I was right afterall._

Just when she was about to kneel to the ground to take him into her arms, she heard footsteps. She quickly hid behind a nearby tree and peeked at the person.

"I'm sure it was an exceed, Carla! Normal cats don't just fly around!" A female voice said, and she guessed it belonged to a young girl.

"Even if it was an exceed, we had to keep going in our way, Wendy. During this horrible snowstorms, we have to think about saving ourselves first," Another voice said.

Being curious, Erza peeked from the tree, only to see a girl and an exceed.

The girl, refered to as Wendy, had long dark blue hair, and was wearing winter clothes alongside with a scarf and gloves. She seemed no more than twelve years old, and a warm smile was plastered onto her lips.

However, the white exceed, Carla, seemed annoyed and frustrated by the whole situation, crossing her arms over her chest.

Erza's eyes widened slightly when the girl frowned and started sniffing.

"Hmm, I feel like someone was here before," Wendy said, and Carla hummed.

The girl continued with a sigh. "...I don't know who it was, and I can't tell where they went. This snow is blocking my senses a bit," She groaned and Carla stayed silent.

Erza frowned. _I hope these two strangers have no intention of hurting him. She's a just child, but I can sense strong magic power coming from her. _

Erza was about to jump into action when the girl kneeled down next to Happy, taking him into her small arms.

However, she stopped when the girl held her palms over the blue exceed, performing magic. _Healing magic? Is she trying to heal him?_

A smile slowly made it's way onto Erza's lips at the action. _Such a kind young girl. She looks like she's willing to help anyone who needs it, even if they are complete strangers to her._

"What's wrong with him?" Carla asked, still crossing her arms as she trembled slightly. Wendy smiled.

"Nothing serious. He's just tired, and I think he's been flying for too long. The low tempareture also has him a bit weak," Wendy explained.

After a minute of magic being used on him, Happy's eyes slowly cracked open. His eyes were foggy for a few seconds until he tensed up, realizing he was with a complete stranger.

The blue haired girl quickly smiled at him and pushed him back down onto her lap, trying to make him warm. "W-Who are you?" Happy weakly questioned, looking up at her.

His eyes then went to the white exceed. It was the first time seeing an exceed other than himself up close.

"I'm Wendy, and this is Carla. Don't worry, I won't hurt you! You fell down while flying, so I healed you with my magic. What are you doing here in this cold anyway? Don't you have somebody with y-"

"_I'm_ with him," Erza's voice rang out, making all three heads snap in her direction.

Wendy looked at her with a shocked expression, and Carla's face remained emotionless. "E-Erza?" Happy questioned weakly, slowly pulling himelf away from the girl, stumbling towards Erza.

"U-Uh, hey!" Wendy greeted, a little flustered as the red haired wizard walked towards her and requiped into an armor once again.

Erza picked Happy up and stood right infront of Wendy. The girl gulped, looking up at her because of the height diffrence.

She held up her hands infront of herself. "I-I was just helping your friend, I wasn't going to cause any harm to hi-"

She stopped talking when Erza's hand, which was in a gauntlet, gently patted her on the head, ruffling her hair.

Wendy looked at her as she smiled. _Despite her scary aura, she seems really kind. _She thought.

"I know, I saw it myself. You're quite talented. Thank you," Erza said and removed her hand.

"N-No problem," Wendy awkwardly stuttered, wrapping her arms around herself to warm herself up as wind blew.

Erza glanced down at Happy, to see him sleep again. She then looked up.

"I'm Erza Scarlet. Are you two a part of a magic guild? I saw you using healing magic," She asked.

"Uh, nice to meet you," Wendy said and pointed at Carla. "She's Carla, my exceed, and also my best friend,"

Erza nodded, waiting for her to introduce herself. The blue haired girl only smiled in response, rolling up the sleeve of her coat to show Erza her arm.

Erza gasped, eyes going wide at the Lamia Scale emblem on her arm.

"Wendy Marvel, from Lamia Scale," She said. "And I'm one of the Sky Sisters,"

Erza quickly recovered from her shock, not saying anything as Wendy rolled down her sleeve.

"Anyway, how come you two know eachother?" Wendy asked, and Erza cleared her throat. "W-We're both in the same guild," She replied and Wendy gasped.

"So you know how to use magic too? Cool!" She said and Erza smiled at her with a bit of force.

"Y-Yes. Uh, you said you're from Lamia Scale?" Erza asked, and she nodded.

"Yes. I'm a sky dragon slayer. I'm coming from a village near Magnolia, and I'm on my way back to Margaret. I took a quest with Carla and now that we're done, we're going back," She explained.

Erza nodded. "And you're one of the sky sisters? I've heard about you two from our clients. They were quite pleased with what you had done. You are a powerful team," She said and smiled at the younger girl.

"Thank you. But, that blue exceed is yours, right? I'm guessing you are a dragon slayer too?" Wendy asked, but Erza shook her head.

"No, I'm not. The dragon slayer he's with is back at Hargeon, and I'm going after him," Erza said. "He's a fire dragon slayer,"

"Oh," Wendy simply replied. "Wendy, let's keep going! The wind's pace is picking up. We have to get out of here," Carla finally spoke, tapping the girl on the leg.

"Right," Wendy said and looked back at Erza. "If you don't mind my asking, what guild are you from?" She asked, but the red haired girl didn't reply.

Wendy quickly began apologizing. "I-I'm sorry, it's not my bussiness. Forgive m-"

"I'm a Fairy Tail wizard," Erza said, words suddenly laced with pride that she didn't know where came from.

She was surprised when Wendy didn't freak out like she expected her to as she looked at her dark blue guild mark on the arm.

"Fairy Tail? That's amazing!" Wendy smiled. "I admire you guys so much! What you all do for other people is really kind,"

Erza was frozen, her eyes locked on the young girl as she enthusiasticly spoke.

"...You help them without expecting anything in return. That's awesome," She finished sweetly. Erza was at a loss for words.

"I-I..." She started, but couldn't say anything.

Never, not even once, had anyone spoke of them _this _nicely. The fact that this was coming from a Lamia Scale member, shocked her even more.

All other magic guilds, like Sabertooth, Mermaid Heel, _and _Lamia Scale were always mean towards Fairy Tail members, but this girl was speaking of how much she _admired_ them.

"I don't understand," Erza finally said. "We are a dark guild, and you're aware of that. Yet you still treat me nicely like this,"

Wendy smiled again. "Actually, I really don't think you guys are a _dark _guild," She said, making Erza gasp.

She stood up, picking up Carla and holding her. "You may use different ways, unlike other guilds, like stealing the money and jewels from the bad guys. But in the end, you return it to the people who deserve them," She said.

"...You help them out. That's what the good guys do, right?"

With that, she started walking away. She looked over her shoulder to the requip mage.

"I hope we meet again!" She said and disapeared behind the trees, leaving Erza speechless.

* * *

Erza's lips curled up in a small smile when she saw Hargeon not too far away. _We're finally here. I'm sure Natsu is here somewhere._

She looked down at Happy with a frown. It had been about two hours since their encounter with Wendy and Carla, and now they were finally there, but he still wasn't up.

"Happy, wake up," She demanded and shook the blue cat not too gently, making him groan softly and open his eyes.

As she set Happy on the ground, she began speaking. "We're at Hargeon, by the way. I'm positive you know where Natsu is, right?" She asked, but Happy remained silent, looking at the ground.

_I know I was going back to Fairy Tail to get help either from her or from Gray, but is it really a good idea? _Happy thought, but looked up at Erza. _Natsu will be mad, but it's for his own good._

"Aye," He simply said and started to walk towards where the blond girl _Lucy _had previously taken Natsu to.

There was an uncomfortable silence, but Erza broke it. "So, tell me, what were you and Natsu doing in Hargeon, leaving without telling anyone anything?"

Happy tensed up. "...We also checked up on your house, and it was empty. What's going on?" She asked, this time her voice gentler and laced with worry.

"A-Actually, we didn't come here together," He stuttered, and Erza frowned. "What?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Natsu asked me to stay behind at the house, but I went after him when a few hours passed anyway. I'm not supposed to tell you, Gray, or anyone else this. He will be angry," Happy said and sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Erza asked, confused as she stopped walking. _He's not making any sense._

Happy ignored her question and continued. "I had a bad feeling something would happen, so I went after him. And something bad _did _happen,"

Erza clenched her hand into a fist. "Is he injured? Did someone see his guild mark? Where is he now?" Erza questioned, wearing an angry expression.

Happy started walking again. "I'm not sure, but I think he's here," He said. Erza looked up and realized they were standing infront of an inn.

"After I found Natsu with his head bleeding badly, a girl with blond hair said she wanted to help. So I let her take him into her room and patch him up. He must be up there now," Happy continued and walked inside.

Happy suddenly sneezed, but recovered quickly. "Why would you trust a stranger like that?" Erza asked, but he kept quiet.

Once again, the person who was supposed to be in charge of the inn wasn't there, just like the morning. It was a bit fishy, but they let it go and rushed upstairs.

_I think it was the third floor. _Happy thought as he flew over the stairs with Erza below.

He stopped infront of the closed door, making Erza do the same. "Is this it, Happy?" Erza said and Happy nodded.

Erza put her hand to the door and knocked on it gently.

_No answer._

She frowned and knocked again, this time with more force. When no reply came, she sighed.

"I'm coming in," She said and took in a breath, kicking the door down with more force than needed. Happy sighed at her actions.

The door crumpled to the ground in a mess of broken wood, and she stepped inside quickly, looking around.

There were bloody bandages on the floor alongside with some tissues, right infront of the now broken down door.

However, there was no sign of Natsu, or the blond girl.

"Where is he?!" Erza yelled, but then saw the window wide open, which snow was falling inside the house from.

She growled and gritted her teeth. "They're gone," She declared the obvious, and Happy looked around in the search of his pinked haired friend with worry, but no avail.

Erza ran to the window and looked out. Not much far away was the forest, all the clouds in the sky making a bit of fog around the place.

_Unfortunately, it's still snowing. Otherwise, I could've seen her footprints on the snow from last night._ Erza thought and gritted her teeth.

"Shall we go and search for them, Happy?" Erza asked, looking back at the exceed as she pointed her thumb at the forest.

Happy flinched, and shivered just at the thought of going back into the forest.

"I-If you want to go, go. But I'm not going back there again," Happy said, sneezing again.

Erza sighed. "I don't want to go back there either, but what about Natsu?" She said as Happy coughed softly.

"Huh, even though Wendy used her magic on you, it seems like you've caught a cold," Erza said and Happy nodded.

"Wear something other than a _backpack _next time you decide to go out during a snowstorm," Erza said as she picked up a blanket resting on the floor, wrapping it around the exceed and then placing him on a couch.

"B-But what about Natsu?" Happy said, ignoring her previous words. Erza's expression softened as she saw tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. She crouched down infront of him.

"We can always search the town for him and the girl," Erza said, flashing him a bright smile.

"Don't worry about him, we _will _find him," Erza assured him, putting a hand on his head.

"I'll go, and you'll stay here and rest. The girl might come back while I'm gone, so be careful," Erza Said. "If I didn't find anything until the sun goes down, I'll come back,"

Happy sniffled and smiled at her. "Aye,"

* * *

**__ With Gray __**

Gray looked at the pink strands of hair with wide eyes. "Natsu?"

_It'd just be too comfortable if I found him right here!_ He thought and cursed, pushing away the rest of the snow covering him quickly.

And indeed, it _was_ him, laying on his stomach with his face in the snow. The ice mage turned him around, only to see his face pale and lips slightly blue.

Some frozen blood was on his forehead, as well as the snow around his head, which was pink. There were bruises all over his body. He looked lifeless.

His usuall black cloak was surprisingly not on him. With his normal clothes on, he looked just like the old Natsu. However, his clothes looked like they were slightly burned.

Gray grabbed Natsu by the shoulders and started shaking him. "What the hell's going on with you? What're you even doing here in the forest?"

He growled when he didn't get a reply. His grip on Natsu's shoulders tightened as he shook him once again.

"Come on, man! Wake up!" He yelled, and then threw a punch to Natsu's face.

Gray expected the hit to finally wake him, but it didn't. He sighed, his hands dropping to his sides. "Dammit,"

He looked around, his eyes finding a spot not far away which wasn't covered with snow. _I better take him there. It must be less cold there._

He rose to his feet and grabbed the dragon slayer under his arms, starting to drag him towards the area covered with dirt.

He placed him down on the ground and sat down himself, leaning against a tree nearby.

Gray then glanced at the rather large gash in the middle of the dragon slayer's head, which had frozen blood around it.

He glanced down at his bag hanging by his side and sighed, taking out the bandages he had brought, just in case.

"You better thank me later for what I'm going to do, Pyro," Gray said and started wrapping the bandages around Natsu's head to stop the bleeding.

After a good ten minutes, he leaned against the tree again and sighed, ignoring the blood steins on his hands. Natsu was still there next to him, head now wrapped up in bandages.

Even after he bandaged his wound, he still looked pale, and looked as if he was about to freeze. _He must have been here in the snow unconscious for a few hours, but why?_

"I'm not a fire wizard to warm him up or something, dammit! What am I supposed to do?" Gray asked himself outloud with frustration.

Then, his eyes landed on a few wooden sticks right next to him, and an idea popped into his mind.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Gray said and sighed as he rubbed a wooden stick on smaller pieces of wood repeatedly, desparetly trying to make a fire.

Natsu was still on the ground next to him, knocked out. Eventhough about half an hour had passed while Gray was trying to make a fire, he still hadn't showed any signs of waking up.

_I have to make this fire to warm him up before it's too late. _Gray thought as he tossed his coat onto Natsu, eventhough it wasn't much of a help.

"Agh, my hands are starting to hurt," Gray winced. "Tch, you're a fire wizard for god's sake. But you can't even keep yourself warm,"

He sighed. "I never thought I'd be making a fire like _this_," He said, but gasped when he saw a small orange spark on the stick and the wood, a bit of smoke begining to rise from them.

He started blowing on it, trying to make the small flame bigger. _Finally._

The small flame slowly started getting larger and larger, and Gray sighed in relief. He picked up more wooden sticks to throw into the fire, careful they were not wet because of all the snow.

He grabbed Natsu once again under his arms, dragging him as close to the fire as possible.

"This should do for now, I guess," He mumbled and tiredly leaned against the tree behind him again, yawning. _I didn't__ get any sleep at the night afterall._

Just before he was about to fall sleep, his eyes landed on Natsu's left hand.

He frowned and took a look inside his bag, at the black glove used for holding in fire, as Porlyusika had said.

He then walked towards Natsu and pushed his own coat aside slightly, eyes widening at the sight of his left arm almost completely covered with dark red marks.

Long claws were at his fingertips, looking like they could cut through anything. What bothered him the most about them was the blood on them.

He kept starring at his hand with wide eyes. _What even are these? He's a human. I'm sure nails aren't supposed to be sharp like this._

Gray sighed and moved his coat back onto Natsu's arm, leaning back onto the tree.

"Tch, it's the same arm he wore the other black glove on, and the same arm he always hid behind himself." He said as he closed his eyes.

"...I think I finally know what he was hiding from us for all those months, but _what_ even is it?" He said and with that, drifted into a slumber.

* * *

**__ With Natsu __**

Slowly opening his eyes, Natsu groaned in pain. The first thing he saw when his eyes opened was tree branches up his head, covered with snow.

He became confused at the sight. _As far as I remember, I face planted into the snow and passed out. Am I alive?_

He also noticed that he was laying on solid ground instead of snow. _Ugh, my head hurts so much. What the heck happened to me after I was knocked out again?_

Natsu winced as he brought a hand to his head, where the large wound be.

He frowned when his hand came in contact with something soft instead. _Bandages?_

"Huh, I don't remember letting that weird blond girl wrap my head up," He mumbled and painfully turned his head to look around.

At his left was a pile of wooden sticks, lit up with flames and at his other side was _Gray_, leaning against a tree, deep in sleep.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?!" Natsu growled, but the ice wizard didn't move an inch, still sleeping.

"Tch," Natsu said and starred at the fire instead. _What is with me waking up and seeing all of these people? First that girl and now the droopy eyes?_

He gritted his teeth. _I passed out twice a day. How pathetic._

He tried to sit up, but every part of his body hurt and he felt _cold, _as odd as that sounded.

Hearing a rustling sound as he moved, he looked down and saw a white coat draped over him.

Natsu wanted to throw up when he realized it was Gray's.

"Blegh...Gross," He said as his expression turned into one of disgust.

Natsu quickly pushed the coat off himself and threw it away, standing up as he whimpered in pain, leaning his weight on a tree nearby.

He brought his left arm up to his face and groaned at the sight. His skin was still red, and the sharp claws were there, just as expected.

Natsu glanced at Gray. _What if he saw my arm while I was knocked out?_

He felt a shiver run down his spine at the the thought and gritted his teeth.

"If he _has _actually seen my arm, there's no doubt he's going to try to get me back to the guild to explain everything," Natsu said and

He looked up at the sky. Judging by it's looks, it was noon. He then looked back down at the fire.

His stomach suddenly growled and he winced. _Even after all that food I had last night, I'm still hungry. _

He straightened up, letting go of the tree as he opened his mouth, taking all the fire in.

After it was all over, he rubbed a hand on his abdomen. Feeling the fire inside his stomache, he felt less cold than he was before.

"Ah, now it's better," He sighed in satisfaction and looked at Gray once again. _I have to get out of here as soon as possible, before he wakes up._

He turned around and started walking. He flinched and bit his tongue, not wanting to make a noise at the immense pain shooting up his legs.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Natsu sighed deeply, shoulders dropping. He cursed under his breath and clenched his hands into fists.

He turned around with a hiss of pain to face Gray, who was standing a few feet away from him with his arms crossed over his chest.

Gray inhaled sharply and pointed at Natsu's left arm, making him growl. _So he saw afterall._

"We need to talk,"


	7. Chapter Seven

_**_ With Natsu, Gray and Lucy _**_

Natsu gritted his teeth. "I have nothing to talk about. Leave me alone, Gray," He said and turned around to walk away.

He had only taken a few steps when Gray grabbed onto his shoulder and turned him around.

"There's no way I'm going to let you get away with _this_!" Gray hissed, refering to his arm.

Natsu didn't say anything, just glared at him. "...What the hell is wrong with your arm? Why wouldn't you tell anyone?" Gray questioned.

Natsu jerked his shoulder out of his grasp. "Tch, shut the hell up,"

"Me and Erza have been searching for you since yesterday when you disapeared. You just left everyone at the guild without a clue and ran away?!" Gray said, ignoring what he said, and Natsu clenched his hands into fists.

Gray narrowed his eyes at him when he didn't reply. "Answer me, Natsu! Don't think I don't know that _that's_ why you've been like this is the past mon-"

"I said shut up!" Natsu yelled as he threw his fist at Gray's jaw, cutting him off.

To his surprise, he didn't try to block his punch, just winced and took a step back.

Gray looked up after a few seconds, a little blood on his lips. Natsu kept his hard expression on as Gray wiped away the blood with his arm.

"I'm not looking for a fight, you idiot. I want to talk," Gray spat.

"...You don't stand a chance against me with your magic power so weak. You're all bruised and beaten up anyway," He said and Natsu growled in rage.

"Don't you dare call me _weak. _You don't know anything about my magic power and where it has disapeared to!" Natsu exclaimed, having the urge to throw another punch at him.

Gray crossed his arms over his now bare chest, making Natsu do the same as they glared at eachother.

"Oh, I think I do,"

Gray pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, holding it up for the dragon slayer to see.

Natsu gasped. It was a picture of the plant he was looking for in the forest. _I put that somewhere in middle of one of my books!_

"Where the hell did you get that from?!" Natsu spat.

Gray flashed him a sly smile as he tilted his head to the side.

"Simple. From the storage room in one of your books,"

Natsu gritted his teeth. "You bastard!"

Gray ignored him and looked at him dead in the eyes. "I think you've got some explaining to do, Natsu,"

Natsu remained silent, still gritting his teeth as he glared daggers at the ice wizard.

Natsu looked down at the ground. _I'm so stupid! I can't even escape without anyone knowing. Stupid ice freak is standing infront of me__ and Erza's looking for me._

He grimaced at his own thoughts. _I wouldn't be surprised if that blond girl __was a part of this too._

"Tch, no way I'm telling you anything," Natsu said, and Gray narrowed his eyes, still holding up the paper.

"Fine then, I guess I've got to ask you this straightforward," Gray said, and pushed his hands inside his pockets along with the paper.

"Do you have any connection with Zeref's demons?" Gray asked, and Natsu froze, eyes going wide.

"...Specially E.N.D?"

Natsu suddenly felt strangely cold as a shiver ran down his spine. His hands dropped to his sides as he felt a tingling sensation in his left arm. _How does he know?_

Gray noticed Natsu's figure going stiff, and frowned. _So I was right afterall._

When Natsu didn't say anything, he sighed. "You must be wondering how I know,"

"Yesterday, Erza suggested taking a job request, all three of us, along with Happy. I denied, saying you were too weak to join. You would bring us down,"

To his surprise, Natsu didn't show any reaction when he called him weak. He continued.

"Erza convinced me to come and inform you of our quest. I came to your house, but you were gone, along with everything in your house."

Natsu kept on a straight face. _Good thing he didn't see Happy. He must've been hiding. If they had seen him, they would have bomered him with questions._

"I told Erza and Mira, and they were both surprised. Erza took off without a word in search of you," Gray said and paused for a few seconds.

Natsu cursed under his breath. Gray glanced at him, and continued.

"I asked Levy about what you read while you were at the library, and she told me how you were reading about Zeref and Tartaros," Gray said with disgust and Natsu flinched at the mention of those names.

"I went to the library and indeed, there were a few books about those demons," Gray sighed.

He continued. "...But I don't understand, why would you want to know about Zeref and his creations?" Gray asked.

Natsu looked away. "I want to beat him someday,"

Gray snickered. "Pff, while being low on magic like this?"

Natsu gritted his teeth, face flushing slightly in embarrassment.

"Shut up, ice freak. They say the greatest way to beat your opponent is to know about them and their weaknesses," He huffed.

"That's just an excuse," Gray said, and Natsu sighed.

"How did you know I was at Hargeon?" Natsu asked, trying to change the subject.

"You wrote down notes on that paper, duh," He said and Natsu growled.

"I figured you were searching for that plant, and realized it was found in Hargeon," Gray said, skipping the part about the glove.

_It may be better if he doesn't know I'm aware of it for now. _Gray thought.

Natsu tried to bring up another thing, trying to distract him from the reasons he was reading those books.

"Was that blond girl trying to get me back to the guild or something? Did you guys send her after me?" Natsu asked.

Gray gritted his teeth. "What the hell are you talking about?! You've lost too much blood, haven't you?"

Natsu groaned in frustraition as his slammed the palm of his hand on his forehead.

"Why are you holding your arm behind yourself again?" Gray said.

His question caught Natsu off guard, making him take a step back.

"I've already seen it y'know. There's no point trying to hide it," Gray added, taking a step forward.

"What the hell are those claws? You're a freaking human, aren't you?" Gray asked, and Natsu tensed at his question.

He looked down, clenching his hands into fists. His _claws _dug into his palm, making him wince.

He started shaking slightly and kept looking down at the ground, suddenly feeling really upset.

He would never tell anyone, but he still wanted to be able to take extreme job requests, and beat the hell out of the bad guys.

He wanted to have Gray as well as himself all bruised up after a fight, not to lose to him.

He secretly missed getting scolded by Erza or Makarov for misbehaving on a quest.

He hated being pitied because of being hurt after a job. The memories of the countless times that happened still stung.

Natsu slowly wrapped his arms around himself, feeling tears well up in his eyes as he started remebering all the days in the past five months.

* * *

_"That all ya got, fire breath?" Gray teased with a grin as he blocked Natsu's kick with an ice shield._

_Natsu grunted in pain as he recieved a punch from the ice wizard instead, spitting out some blood. _

_He could hear the other guild members sigh, feeling Erza's worried eyes burning holes at his back as he finally landed a kick to Gray's stomach._

_After a few minutes, they were both panting. Natsu was worse, breath raspy and unsteady. His vision was filled with black spots._

_"Ugh, I'll just finish this. You're no fun anymore," Gray rolled his eyes and charged at Natsu, kicking him in the chest._

_Natsu's breathing hitched as he fell to the ground on his back, eyes closing as his body went limp. _

_Gray's eyes widened as Natsu blacked out for good. "Damn, I overdid it,"_

_Natsu heard Gray's voice faintly as his consciousness faded away slowly. _

_He felt his pride get crushed each time he lost to Gray. It always pissed him off to lose. Most of the time, it was a draw. None of them would win__. But now, Gray was always the winner._

_Erza quickly rushed towards the dragon slayer and cursed as she looked at his pale face which was twisted in pain._

_She looked up at Gray and glared at him. "What did you do?!" She said with anger, and Gray sighed._

_"Sorry," He mumbled and turned away. Natsu felt Erza start to drag him away by the arms._

_"What's gotten into you, Natsu?" She mumbled, and then evetything went silent._

* * *

_"We all humbly apologize for what happened, Master," Erza said as she bowed to Makarov._

_He was looking down at all three of them with anger, gritting his teeth._

_Gray rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his now bare chest at Erza's words._

_"Why are you apologizing? It should be Natsu. He burned down the whole house anyway,"_

_Natsu growled. "Shut up. It was an accident,"_

_Master Makarov sighed. "That's what you always say, Natsu,"_

* * *

_Natsu walked in the streets of Magnolia with a small smile, Happy flying by his side._

_He loved being looked up to, and be known as one of the strongest Fairy Tail wizards, even if he was a member of a dark guild._

_"Woah, is that Salamander?"_

_"I think that's him! The Fairy Tail wizard!"_

_"No way!"_

_"Look at his guild mark! He's from a dark guild?"_

* * *

_Natsu sighed deeply as he heard Happy's stomach growl__ again._

_"Sorry, little buddy. We've got to skip dinner. I've got no jewels," Natsu said with shame as he looked down at the blue exceed._

_Eventhough he still wanted to feast on huge amounts of food with Happy, he couldn't do anything about it._

_"I'll try selling some of the blankets tomorrow, 'kay? That should give us some jewels," He said, but Happy remained silent._

* * *

_He clutched his head in his hands as the new information sank in__. Happy watched him silently, not knowing what to say._

_"No way," Natsu mumbled weakly._

_"I'm E.N.D? H-How's that even possible?"_

* * *

Natsu realized he was still starring at the ground, trembling. The pain in the palm of his hand was now dull.

However, Gray's voice made him snap out of his memories of the past.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, taking a step closer, voice laced with actual concern.

Gray looked at Natsu as he shook violently. He seemed to be in a lot of pain, probably remembering something.

Natsu brought his left hand toward his face, the fresh memory of the night hunting him as his eyes met the dried blood on his claws.

Gray looked at Natsu with pained eyes as tears started streaming down his cheeks. He knew very well that Natsu was suffering the most in this situation.

* * *

_Natsu's eyes widened as he looked at the men with a horrified face. Tears started welling up in his eyes as the whole bar kept burning down. _

_The tears finally rolled down his cheeks as he looked at his sharp claws with wide eyes, now coated in blood._

_His hand started trembling as he looked at the corpses._

* * *

Natsu kept starring at his claws. Gray's previous question repeated itself in his head.

_You're a freaking human, aren't you?_

"I _am_ human," He mumbled slowly, voice barely heard.

Gray's eyes went wide at what he said, still looking at him with worry.

"...What?" He questioned, but Natsu didn't reply.

"It wasn't me," Natsu mumbled, this time louder. Gray took a step closer to him.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Gray whispered with confusion.

Natsu then clutched his head in his hands. "It wasn't me! I'm no demon!" He said through gritted teeth.

He fell to his knees, tears falling from his eyes.

_Am I?_

Gray crouched down infront of him. He opened his mouth to speak, but then decided to keep quiet.

He just looked at Natsu as he cried silently, his hands digging into the dirt below.

Natsu felt embarrassed, crying like a child right infront of _Gray, _out of all people. He just couldn't hold it in anymore.

"I killed them, Gray," Natsu suddenly said, voice weak.

"I killed them all," He said, holding a hand to his face as he tried to wipe away the tears.

"Killed who?" Gray gently asked, but Natsu didn't reply.

Gray sighed. "Fine, don't tell me," He said as he reached out a hand for Natsu to grab on.

"But you _have _to tell me and Erza later about all of this," He continued.

Natsu grabbed Gray's hand with a huff and he pulled him to his feet.

A few seconds passed and suddenly, a rather annoyed female voice rang out.

"Ugh! I finally found you!"

They both turned their heads, only to see a blond girl running towards them.

"Is that the same blond girl you were talking about?" Gray whispered, but Natsu remained silent.

Then, she stopped running and doubled over with her hands on her knees right infront of them, her golden hair covering her shoulders and face.

She was wearing black pants along with a grey sweater, which didn't look much warm. She had black boots on, and she seemed to be real tired.

"That's the same girl back at Hargeon," Natsu said as she straightened up, facing them.

"Who the hell are _you_?" Gray spat, and she frowned.

"Jeez, no need to be so rude. I was just looking for _him_," The girl said, and pointed at Natsu.

She groaned when she saw the white bandages on his head. "Ah, you've already bandaged yourself,"

"I guess I ran all the way from Hargeon to this place for nothing," She said with a small smile.

Natsu frowned. _She smells fammiliar. I feel like I smelled it last night somewhere._

Gray sighed. "I'm Gray Fullbuster. Nice to meet you I guess," He awkwardly said.

Natsu reached out a hand to her. "Natsu Dragneel,"

She smiled as she shook his slightly bigger hand.

"Lucy Heartfillia,"

Natsu hummed as he let go. _Lucy, huh?_

Lucy suddenly rose an eyebrow, pointing a finger at Gray's chest. "Is that your guild mark?"

Natsu gritted his teeth as he realized she was looking at the dark blue Fairy Tail emblem on Gray's chest.

Gray looked down. Seeing his bare chest, he gasped. "Shit!"

The ice wizard cursed under his breath again_. If she informs the magic council or something, we're both screwed._

She blinked. "Why did you both get so nervous over it? It's just a guildmark, right?"

Natsu and Gray glanced at eachother. _She probably doesn't even know about Fairy Tail. _They both thought.

"What's the name of your guild anyway?" She asked, and they both stiffened.

Gray however, quickly recovered. "Nevermind about that," He said, finally breaking the long silence.

He then started walking away, not bothering to ask anything else as he put on his clothes, pushing his hands in his pockets.

"Where are you going?" Natsu asked, Lucy at his side.

"To Hargeon of course. The sun has almost set. We've got to get out of the forest before it gets dark," He said and picked up his pace.

Natsu groaned and started walking as well, Lucy trailing behind.

For a few minutes, there was silence. Natsu growled, feeling her eyes on him.

Getting annoyed, he sharply turned around and became face to face with the girl. Her eyes went wide at their closeness.

"What are you starring at?" He asked, noticing how her eyes had been glued to his left arm.

"N-Nothing. Just your hand," She said, leaning back. "Your nails, or rather, _claws, _don't look normal,"

Natsu hissed at what she said and turned around, walking again. She frowned and walked after him, lazily following the two.

"Why were you even after me anyway?" Natsu asked out of the blue after a few minutes.

"I already told you. I found you in the middle of the street, your head bleeding. I was just trying to help you, you know," She said, rubbing her arms to keep herself warm.

"Why run after me when I escaped then?" He asked, not meeting her eyes.

She laughed softly. "You were hurt. I couldn't just let you be, could I? That'd be too cruel,"

Natsu looked at her, a shocked expression on his face as she smiled at him. _She actually cared?_

He turned his head away, heart warming up at her kindness.

"Thanks, Luigi," He said, smiling.

"It's Lucy!"

* * *

"Ah, I can't feel my legs anymore," Lucy whipered as she slowly took steps in the rather deep snow, still following the two mages.

Natsu didn't seem to be in a good shape either. Hell, she could tell he was even worse than herself.

He was panting and shivering at the same time, and his wounded head seemed to be bothering him a lot.

However, to Lucy's surprise, the raven haired boy didn't seem to be struggling with the cold.

"S-So cold," Natsu said, voice trembling slightly. He rubbed his arms with his hands, trying to make himself warm.

"Quit your whining you two. It isn't even _that_ cold," Gray said, looking at them over his shoulder.

"Says the ice wizard!" Natsu yelled. "Of course the cold wouldn't bother you!"

"An ice mage?" Lucy mumbled, humming to herself at the new information. She then glanced at Natsu, and smiled.

"Hey Natsu," She called.

"Yeah?"

"What kind of magic do _you _use?"

Natsu was taken back by her question and looked down at the ground. Lucy frowned at his actions.

After a few seconds, Natsu finally spoke up.

"I'm an uh," He started, scratching the back of his neck, "Fire wizard. A dragon slayer,"

Lucy's brown eyes lit up as she smiled at him again, pretending she didn't know. "Oh really? That's awesome!"

Natsu smiled sadly. "You think so?"

Lucy hummed. "I do! This is the first time I'm meeting a dragon slayer. Your magic must be really strong,"

Natsu sighed as he clenched his left hand into a fist, still hiding it behind his back.

Before he could say something, the blond spoke up again.

"Oh, I know! Since we are both cold, why don't you make a fire to keep me and yourself warm?" She said cheerfully, making him even more upset.

"Wait, that doesn't make sense," She said, putting a finger to her chin.

"You're a fire wizard, so you're supposed to be immune to the cold. Then why are you shivering like this?" She added.

When Natsu didn't reply, she flinched. _Maybe I shouldn't have asked him that._

Just as she was about to apologize, he chuckled, somewhat bitterly.

_Your magic power must be really strong!_

"Actually, I _used _to he powerful," He said, and Lucy rose an eyebrow.

"But not anymore," He said as he sighed deeply again. Lucy didn't reply, not knowing what to say. Yet, she felt guilty of asking him in the first place.

Gray's voice finally broke the awkward silence between the two.

"We're finally there," He breathed out. "Hargeon,"

The sky was still bright, but they knew that in a few hours, the sun would be setting. That's why they all let out a sigh of relief when they saw the town.

Lucy smiled at the sight and picked up her pace as they finally came out of the forest and had their feet touching solid ground.

"Phew, that was some walk," Lucy mumbled as she stretched her arms.

Natsu crossed his arms behind his head as he sighed in content, feeling the cold slipping away as they entered the town.

"Be careful not to strip again, ice pervert," Natsu whispered to Gray.

"Unless you wanna get arrested by the magic council," He added, and the ice mage nodded with a groan.

Lucy smiled at the two as she walked behind them. _They must be really good friends._

Gray suddenly turned around. "Why are you following us again?"

Lucy stopped walking and Natsu turned around when he realized they had halted.

"Oh, uh, there's no particular reason," She said, putting her hands infront of herself as she smiled nervously.

"I-It's just that..," She started, and Natsu frowned.

She felt slightly stressed under the intense gazes of the two males, not being able to speak.

The people walked past the three of them with hurry, some bumping shoulders with her, and some whispering to eachother about them.

"We're waiting," Gray said impatiently.

She sighed. "I-I don't have any friends, and I'm kind of lonely here all on my own since I don't live here in Hargeon,"

She looked up at them, flashing a nervous smile.

"Maybe, I can be your friend?"

Natsu's eyes widened slightly when her brown eyes locked with his. It was as if she was pleading them to say yes.

Gray just huffed in response, crossing his arms over his chest. He was about to deny, until Natsu interrupted him.

"Of course you can be," Natsu beamed at her with a goofy grin, and she gasped softly as he walked towards her.

"I don't know about the ice freak, but from now on, you are my friend, Luigi," Natsu said threw an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close for a side hug.

"You can follow us around as long as we're at Hargeon," He said with a smile. Lucy felt heat rise to her cheeks at his actions.

She smiled, face rosy. "Thank you, Natsu,"

Gray scoffed and started walking again, and the other two followed behind after pulling away.

Natsu didn't know why, but he had a smile small on his lips afterwards, feeling happy inside.

At least, that was until they turned around a corner and walked into a street.

The same street where the bar from last night was at.

Natsu stopped walking, eyes glued to the wrecks and what remained of the burnt shop.

His breathing hitched as his eyes danced across the burnt wooden and iron pillars, grabbing hold of his left arm with his right hand as he felt it warming up.

Lucy looked around cheerfully, happy that she got to be friends with the two wizards, even though Gray didn't seem to very happy with that.

She suddenly rose an eyebrow. "Oh,"

Gray looked at her with a bored expression, none of the two noticing Natsu not being there. "What is it?"

"This is the same street where I found Natsu at last night," She said, and he hummed.

"Really? I thought you were bluffing when you said you were going to help him," Gray said, and then frowned.

"What would he be doing here anyway?" He mumbled quietly to himself, but snapped out of his thoughts when Lucy stopped walking, calling out to the dragon slayer.

"Natsu? Are you alright?" She said. _Why is he standing there?_

She then looked at where Natsu was looking, and her eyes went wide when she realized it was the burnt down building.

_The same one from last night!__ The bar!_

A few people were gathered around it, and so were a few cops. She took note of how Natsu was starring at the ruined building with glossy eyes.

Lucy gritted her teeth as she ran back to where he was. _I__'ve got to be careful not to accidently say something I shouldn't._

Gray started running after her, attention now fixed on the burned down shop.

"Natsu?" She called out his name as she halted by his left side, looking at him with slight worry. He didn't say anything, just kept starring at the building.

She looked down when she felt heat near her body. It was his arm.

Her eyes widened when she realized it glowing red, claws growing and getting larger than they were.

"Natsu! Can you hear me?" She tried again, but got no reply.

It was as if he was in a trance. His eyes were emotionless and foggy.

She then grabbed his shoulders and looked at him in the eyes. "Natsu!"

"Huh?" He suddenly said, eyes suddenly back to normal as he took in a breath sharply.

Lucy sighed in relief, eyes filled with worry. "Are you okay?" She asked.

He tried to catch his breath. Gray then apeared by their side, looking at Natsu with confusion.

Natsu starred at Lucy for a few more seconds, but then looked down. To his relief, his hand had stopped glowing. _I think I was going out of control again._

Gray glanced at Natsu's arm for a second and growled. _What the hell is all of this about__? What are you hiding?_

Natsu looked back up at Lucy. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks,"

Lucy smiled. "I didn't do anything," She said as she removed her hands from his shoulders.

Natsu took one last glance at the building before putting his hands on the Lucy and Gray's backs, giving them a push forward.

"Let's just get out of this place," He hissed.

_I'll just ignore what happened right now, and I'll make sure not to cross this street again._

There was a long silence once more, none of the three talking to eachother.

Natsu cursed under his breath at how long the street was. No matter how much they walked, it wouldn't end.

"Hey Gray," Natsu suddenly said. "Do you have any jewels?"

Gray narrowed his eyes at him. "Why?"

Natsu scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, it's just that I'm _really _hungry," He said and Gray gritted his teeth.

"...And I lost all the jewels I had to a crappy meal I ate last night," Natsu mumbled, thinking about the meal he had back at the bar the night before.

Gray crossed his arms over his chest with a growl.

"Why would I waste my jewels to fill _your_ stomach?!"

"I told you, I don't have any jewels left! Do I have to _beg _you?!"

"You know how much trouble we go through to get those jewels!"

"Yeah, well, you and Lucy get to eat too, dammit!"

As the two kept yelling at eachother, Lucy sighed.

"Haha. And I thought they were good friends," She said as she watched them head butting eachother.

She walked towards them with a nervous smile.

"H-Hey guys, cut it out. People are watching," She said, but none payed attention. She sighed in defeat, shoulders dropping.

"Ice freak!"

"Ash for brains!"

"Droopy eyes!"

"You wanna go?!" Gray said, taking a fighting stance.

Lucy gasped, taking a step back. "Oh, I didn't know they would take it this far,"

"Bring it on!" Natsu challanged, clenching his hands into fists. Gray jumped towards him, ready to strike him with a punch to the jaw.

However, just before his fist made contact with Natsu's face, he stopped.

Out of no where, Erza's words from months ago rang out in his head.

"_What did I tell you about picking fights with him, Gray?! _

_It'll probably make him worse__ than he already is!"_

Gray lowered his fist and Natsu rose an eyebrow, taking a step back.

"Huh?" He questioned Gray's strange actions, fists still held up in the air infront of him. "You afraid or somethin' ?"

Gray dug his hand inside the pocket of his pants without a word, and pulled out a small black pouch.

He turned around and threw it at Natsu over his shoulder. The pouch jingled in Natsu's hands, and he rose an eyebrow.

Lucy peeked over Natsu's shoulder as he opened the pouch. Natsu's eyes went wide at the sight of the jewels inside. It wasn't much, but still a lot.

Natsu flashed a smile at Lucy, along with a _he finally gave in _look, throwing the bag at her. He then looked at Gray, whose back was facing them.

Lucy looked at the black pouch, and then down at the belt around her hips with a frown. Her key holder, and her own pouch hung there.

"Thanks, man," Natsu said, patting Gray on the back as they all started walking again.

When Gray didn't say anything in response, Natsu groaned.

"Admit it, you _are_ hungry yourself," Natsu grumbled.

Gray looked at him with emotionless eyes.

"Tch, hungry my ass," He said and picked up his pace.

Not a second later, the sound of Gray's stomach growling could be heard.

Natsu instantly burst out laughing, clutching his stomach, and Lucy giggled.

Gray felt his face warming up in embarrasment as he glanced at the two of them.

_"Hungry my ass!"_ Natsu mimiced his monotone voice from earlier, and Gray gritted his teeth.

Lucy stopped laughing and reached out to her belt, grabbing her own pouch.

"Anyway, judging by what Gray said during your fight, you guys seem to have a lot of trouble making money, or jewels," Lucy said.

She then opened her rather big pouch, showing it to Natsu and Gray.

Their jaws dropped at the sight of all the jewels inside.

Lucy quickly closed her pouch, putting it back on her belt.

"I know a pretty good restaurant somewhere around here. We can go there, so don't waste your jewels," She said and put the smaller pouch in Gray's hand.

"It's my treat! Take it as a thanks for letting me be your friend," Lucy said and smiled at them brightly.

Gray remained silent, his eyes still wide. The two were having a hard time letting the fact that they were going to a _fancy restaurant _sink in.

"W-Where did you even _get_ all of those jewels from?" Natsu stuttered.

Lucy smiled nervously, looking down at tge ground and not meeting his eyes.

"I'll explain later when we're there," She said and started walking, the two following behind.

Natsu sighed in relief when he realized they had to turn a corner and walk to another street.

"Phew, it's finally over. This street was never ending," He mumbled.

Right before they turned the corner, Gray stopped walking. Natsu and Lucy kept walking, chatting to eachother.

He looked back at where they previously where. At the burnt shop. Gray narrowed his eyes at the wrecks of the building.

However, after a few seconds, he sighed and turned away, following the two. Natsu's words from before repeated in his head.

_"I killed them, Gray. I killed them all,__"_

Gray sighed as he clenched his hands into fists.

"Dammit," He cursed. "What are you not telling us, Natsu?"


	8. Chapter Eight

_**_ With Erza _**_

"Where can he be?" Erza asked herself out loud. "I can't find him anywhere,"

She looked around once again before turning the corner to the other street, but there was no sign of the pink haired dragon slayer.

She sighed. _He must be here somewhere. Happy said so afterall._

Erza gritted her teeth. "Why would he run away from Fairy Tail anyway?" She muttered, worry lacing her voice.

"Didn't he trust me or anyone else enough to let them know?" She said, sighing once again.

When another blast of wind blew snowflakes in her face, she shivered slightly. Even in her warmest armor, she still felt chilly.

She winced at the pain of hunger in her stomach. "Agh, I'm starving. I haven't eaten anything since last night,"

Erza looked around, hoping to find a place she could have something to eat in.

She hummed when her eyes landed on a small shop in between the other buildings.

It was a coffee shop, and in her opinion, it looked pretty warm and cozy from afar.

She sighed as she walked towards the coffee shop. _Time for a break._

A jingling sound was made when she opened the door. Instantly, warm air engulfed her as she closed the door behind herself, sighing in content.

"How can I help you, miss?" A man, probably a waiter, asked her as she sat behind a small table.

She gasped softly when her eyes met several cakes kept behind a glass, completely forgetting about Natsu.

Her eyes sparkled when they landed on a white cake, decorated with small red pieces of strawberry.

She smiled goofily at the cake, cheeks warming up in excitement.

"A-A Strawberry c-cake, please," She choked out with joy.

"Alright," Said the waiter, shocked by her odd behaviour.

* * *

_**_ With Natsu, Gray and Lucy _**_

Natsu and Gray gapped at the sight before them with wide eyes as they stood infront of the restaurant with Lucy ahead of them.

"C'mon, don't just stand there! Let's go inside. I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving!" The blond said cheerfully as she clapped her hands together.

Gray glanced at Natsu, and just like himself, he was shocked. _How the heck did she get all those jewels anyway? I can tell by the looks of this restaurant that it's expensive._

Natsu kept looking up at the building, thoughts going back to the bar. _Compared to this place, that bar was horrible._

He closed his eyes and smiled, inhaling the scent of the food coming from the restaurant deeply. He then looked down at the ground and sighed with a sad smile.

It had been ages since he had been to a restaurant like this. It almost seemed like a dream to him, considering how in the past months, he didn't have enough jewels to provide even a normal meal for Happy and himself.

Speaking of the blue exceed, Natsu really felt bad for him. He knew very well that leaving Happy behind at their house all alone was a bit cruel.

But Natsu also knew that it was for his own good. However, the fact that there wasn't _any_ food left at the house made him a bit worried. _What's he supposed to eat?_

"Hey, you okay?" Lucy's voice made him look up from the ground. He met her brown eyes with his own. Her tone was laced with worry and care.

"Yeah!" He beamed and gave her a real smile, remembering once again that they were going to a restaurant. _I finally get to eat proper food!_

"I'm gonna eat until I can't anymore!" Natsu said with a toothy grin and Lucy giggled.

"Thanks Lucy," He said and Lucy smiled at him. "No problem,"

Gray looked at them with a small smile and then turned away, going through the door after Lucy.

He looked around, the scent of sereval diffrent dishes being served filling his nose.

He frowned when his stomach growled again, and looked down with a small blush as he recalled the memory from a while ago.

The whole place was warm and cozy, and Natsu sighed in relief when the chilliness of the outside was finally gone. He felt slightly ashamed of the fact that he had been feeling _cold_, but ignored it.

Lucy sat down behind a table, and infront of her, sat the two wizards who were still looking around with wide eyes.

She chuckled nervously as she realized people were looking at the duo. _They're both acting so weird, specially Natsu. What's with him?_

A waiteress came to the table and took their orders after greeting them with a smile.

"What can I get you, miss?" The waiteress asked Lucy, and she began ordering.

Natsu nudged Gray and he huffed angrily in response. "What?" He spat, and glanced at Natsu, who was drooling as he pointed to a nearby table who a few people were sitting by.

Gray sighed as he realized Natsu was just looking at all the food they had.

"Do you think this is a dream? Because I do," Natsu said and Gray growled.

"Stop acting like a moron. Everyone's looking at you," He said and Natsu growled. "Don't boss me around, popsicle!"

Gray narrowed his eyes at him and was about to speak, until the waitress beat him to it.

"What can I get for you, misters?"

Natsu glanced at Gray and huffed, before making eye contact with Lucy. She smiled at him, taking note of how hungry they both seemed.

"Don't hold back you guys. Looks like you're both really hungry," She said and leaned over the table, her smile still on her lips.

"...I've got enough jewels, so suit yourselves,"

That was the only thing Natsu needed her to say before he ordered almost _every_ food from the menu.

Lucy chuckled at his actions and watched the waitress as she wrote down on her notepad, a bit shocked herself. She then went to Gray, who didn't order anything.

"Hey, aren't you going to get anything, Gray?" Lucy asked and Gray just pointed his thumb at Natsu.

"Nah, he's already ordered a lot of dishes that one will be enough for me. I don't eat much anyway," He said and Lucy smiled at him.

"Ah, that's nice of you," She said sweetly, and Natsu growled.

"Who said I'm gonna share my food with you?!" Natsu said and grabbed Gray's collar, making him do the same as they started bickering again.

"Guys, _please,_" Lucy said as she sighed. Luckily, they weren't using force like they almost had outside. They were just using stupid words and nicknames for eachother.

_Are they always like this? _Lucy thought as she looked down at her pouch hanging on her belt, ignoring the gazes of other people locked on them.

She smiled at the waitress when she came back with their bill. Natsu took note of how Lucy's brown eyes widened slightly when she looked at the totall.

However, she quickly recovered and gave her the same amount of jewels written on the paper. The waitress bowed.

"Thank you, ma'am. We'll be back with your food," She said and walked away. Lucy glanced at her almost empty pouch worridly, and Natsu flinched.

"Tch, look what you've done!" Gray whisper shouted as he leaned towards Natsu.

"Just because of your _stomach_, most of her jewels are gone," Gray hissed and Natsu pouted.

"...Now she probably thinks we're just _using_ her because we said she can be our friend. Do you not feel ashamed at all?" He finished and Natsu groaned, realizing he was right.

Lucy rose an eyebrow as she heard them whisper to eachother, but shook it off.

She placed the pouch back on her belt, eyes meeting her key holder once again. She quickly looked away from it when she saw the broken key inside.

A few minutes later, several different dishes were put on the table infront of them. Lucy sighed in content as she started eating instantly, feeling her empty stomach fill up.

She cracked an eye open when she realized there was no sound coming from the two. They were just looking at the food with rather pained eyes, not eating.

She frowned. _They're looking at the food so strangely. It's like they haven't had any in ages._

Just as she was about to question them, Natsu took hold of a chicken round by the bone and bit at it hungrily, finishing it in seconds.

Lucy covered her face with her arms when bits of his food flew towards her, making her arms slightly dirty. "Natsu, slow down!"

Gray just sighed, shifting in his seat to get farther away from the hungry dragon slayer.

"He always eats like this, so deal with it," He said as he pulled a plate away from Natsu, placing it infront of himself as he started to eat.

Gray hummed as he munched on the meat, letting out a sigh of content. Lucy smiled at them. Natsu seemed pretty pleased with the food too.

Eventhough Natsu had the most food, he finished first, leaning back in his seat as he sighed in bliss.

"Ah, I don't remember the last time I ate like this," Natsu said as he rubbed his belly, looking up at the ceiling.

Not long after, the other two finished. Gray cleared his throat and nudged Natsu in the ribs, making him growl in pain.

"What's your problem?!" Natsu hissed, but Gray ignored him.

"Thank you for the meal, Lucy," Gray politely said and Natsu rose an eye brow. _Oh yeah, I'm supposed to thank her._

"Yeah, thanks!" He simply said and smiled at her. She smiled back.

"It really means a lot to both of us that you let us eat with you," Gray said. "Our guild doesn't make the most money, so we hardly ever have proper food,"

Natsu sighed, thoughts drifting to Happy once again. "He's right. We owe you one, Lucy," Natsu said bitterly and Lucy frowned.

"I-I'm so sorry for you guys. Though I'm glad I could help you," She said with care. _I knew something was with them._

There was a moment of silence between the three, and they could only hear the voice of other customers as they ate.

Natsu frowned. _I owe her an apology._

"Hey, Lucy," He started, scratching the back of his neck. Lucy looked up at him with a confused expression.

"...Sorry for getting so much food. I know it cost a lot, so I'm sorry. I'd pay you back if I had any jewels," Natsu said, making her eyes widen slightly.

Natsu flushed. "I just can't control my appetite,"

Lucy giggled. "It's okay, really. Don't worry, because I still have a lot of jewels left back at my hotel," She said as she stood up from the table, and Natsu sighed in relief as he got up as well.

The three made their way out of the restaurant, both Gray and Natsu having a smile on their lips.

"How do you have so many jewels anyway?" Gray asked as he leaned against a nearby wall, and she just smiled.

"I'm a wizard, just like you guys," She said proudly. "I get jewels from doing quests for some people,"

Natsu and Gray both gasped. "You're a what?!"

Lucy chuckled. "A wizard," she repeated. Natsu blinked in surprise and Gray remained silent afterwards, frowning.

"But you're not a part of a guild, are you? How do you take quests?" Gray questioned as he rose an eyebrow.

"I just help out anyone who's in need of a mage's help, so no. I'm not a part of a guild," She replied, looking down.

After a second or two of silence, she looked up at them. "But I do plan to join one!" She said with determination in her eyes.

Natsu felt his heart flutter in the strangest way when she said that.

_Maybe..._

_She could join Fairy Tail?_

He then groaned at his own thoughts.

_Dumbass, why would she ever want to join a dark guild?_

There was silence once again, and Natsu yawned tiredly. The sky was still lit up with the dim light of the sun, and it was soon going to be night.

Lucy suddenly sighed. "But, that's not all. I come from a rich family, so..," She trailed off, twiddling with her fingers nervously.

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

She remained silent, as if she didn't want to tell more of it to them. _Is it a good idea to let them know? Won't they rat me out?_

Lucy sighed. _They don't look like the type that would actually do that_.

"As I said, my family is wealthy," She finally said, but paused, looking up and smiling at them sheepishly.

"...That's why I stole some of the jewels we had before escaping,"

"What?" Natsu asked as he narrowed his eyes at her in confusion.

"Before _es__caping?_" Gray questioned as he crossed his arms over his surprisingly covered chest.

_Dammit, it's too hard to keep this on. _Gray thought, gritting his teeth as he tried his best not to strip down.

Lucy then closed her eyes with a sigh. "Yeah, escaping,"

"...Back there at home, I was suffering. My father, he hated me, I could say," She said bitterly.

"And all he wanted was for me to grow up and be a _lady. _Also, all he cared about was his money. He just wanted to make more of it,"

"What about your mom?" Natsu asked.

"She's...gone," Lucy quickly said, and then it went quiet. Natsu regreted asking the last question.

She noticed how he seemed to feel guilty for asking, and smiled sadly at him.

"Eventhough it's been really hard, at least I'm _free _now, and that's all that matters,"

She looked up and sighed. "...Freedom is _everything_, in my opinion. Too bad my father's people are lurking around in search of me,"

Gray frowned. "They want to get you back to your father, don't they?"

"That's right," She said, and then looked up at them with worried eyes.

"You guys already know about me and my name," She said, voice laced wity worry.

"_Please_, if they questioned you, don't tell them!" She begged them while bowing her head to them slightly.

Gray and Natsu were both taken back by her actions, but then Natsu started laughing.

"Do you really think we would do that? C'mon, why would we?" Natsu said, still laughing.

"You trusted us by letting us know of your story, and we appreciate that. We won't tell anyone, so don't sweat it," Gray said with a small smile.

"Plus, you're our friend, remember?" Natsu said and Lucy's eyes went wide.

Then, she nodded her head with rosy cheeks. "Yeah,"

"Oh," Natsu said. "What kind of magic do you use? You said you were a wizard,"

Lucy smiled as she tapped her key holder, which was resting on her belt.

"I'm a celestial wizard, and I have ten of the twelve Zodiac golden keys," She said with pride.

However, she then felt sadness rush through her when she remembered one certain key, which was _broken._

"That's amazing," Gray said with a small smile.

"Celestial wizards are rarely there, and I've heard that Zodiac spirits are pretty strong. You must be really powerful," He added.

"That's right, there are few of us. Thank you," She replied and he nodded in reply.

"No wonder you were able to go on quests and get so many jewels," Natsu said as his eyes scanned the key holder with curiousity.

She smiled at the two of them, trying to forget about the key that was able to open the gate of the water bearer.

"Can you summon one of your spirits?" Natsu suddenly asked as he pointed at her key holder.

Gray sighed at his request. Lucy looked a bit taken back, but her lips quickly curled up in a smile.

"Sure," She said, thinking of one certain spirit.

Natsu looked at her with excited eyes when she opened her key holder.

_I wonder what her spirit looks like! It must be human, right? I bet he's powerful!_ He thought.

"Open, Gate of the white dog! Plue!"

As the white spirit was summoned, an awkward silence fell upon them.

Natsu's face twitched as a _creature_ apeared infront of them, waving his white hand at them as he smiled weirdly.

Gray just looked at the _white dog _with wonder. _How can he be powerful? Can he even fight? He looks harmless to me. _

He chuckled as the white thing, no taller than half a meter, moved around, stumbling in the process.

_He doesn't even look like a dog. _He thought.

The people passing them looked at Plue with smile, and some awed at him because of his cuteness.

"W-What exactly can he do?" Natsu questioned her as she crouched down next to the spirit, patting his head softly. "Hey Plue,"

Lucy looked up at Natsu. "Oh, him?" She questioned, lifting Plue up into her arms.

"I don't actually use him for fighting, if that's what you're thinking. He's just a really good friend of mine," She said as she looked down at him.

"I summon him a lot, since I get lonely pretty often. He keeps me company, and doesn't drain much magic power out of me," She explained.

Natsu groaned. "Can't you just summon one of your Zodiac spirits?" He asked, and Lucy shook her head.

"No can do!" She beamed. "Summoning any of the Zodiac spirits can drain too much energy out of me. I only summon them when I'm really in need of their help,"

Lucy continued. "Also, we celestial wizards, have contracts with our spirits. We can only summon them at certain days, not whenever we want."

Natsu scratched the back of his neck as he took in the information, and Gray yawned, slightly bored.

"Don't forget, I have this!" She said as she showed them her whip. "I use this whenever the situation's easy to handle,"

As a rather cold wind blew, Natsu shivered, feeling goosebumps apear on his skin. It was snowing again, and it wasn't even night yet.

Lucy frowned as Natsu rubbed his arms, probably trying to warm up. Gray remained quiet, not wanting to make him feel pitied.

"C-Can't you warm yourself up? You seem to be cold," Lucy hesitantly asked, and Natsy shook his head.

"I told you, I'm low on magic power for now," He said through gritted teeth.

The blond dared to question him more. "But why? Can't you use magic anymore?" She questioned.

Natsu sighed and lifted his right hand in the air, lighting it up with his flames.

His hand was quickly engulfed in fire, and he took note of how the orange flames reflected in her brown eyes when she smiled.

"I _can _use magic, as you see. It's just not powerful enough to use it for fighting," He said and Lucy reached out her hands towards the flames, feeling their warmth.

"Ah, it's so warm," She sighed in content and Natsu felt blood rush to his cold cheeks.

He shook his head and looked back at his hand as the fire slowly went out. Lucy rose an eyebrow. "Why is it going out?"

Natsu sighed. "It's always been like this for a while. It goes out pretty easily. That's why I can't even keep myself warm," He said as his right arm dropped to his side.

Gray looked at the two with an emotionless face as they chatted. He then looked at the sky as he felt the chilly wind blow through his hair. _Damn, I'm going mad with these clothes on._

He shook his head, trying not to think about it. _I can tell there's going to be a blizzard tonight. We better take shelter quickly._

He pushed his hands inside his pockets and glanced at Natsu. _I only came here to take him back to the guild. I almost forgot about that._

Gray took a few steps towards the two, grabbing Natsu by his arm and pulling him to his side.

"And," He started. "This is where we part ways,"

The two of them looked at him with confusion. Natsu narrowed his eyes at Gray.

The ice wizard reached out his other hand towards the blond celestial mage.

"It was nice meeting you, Lucy," He said as she hesitantly grabbed his hand with a perplexed expression. _What's going on?_

"Thanks again for the meal," He said and then started walking away, pulling Natsu along.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Natsu huffed, freeing his arm from his grasp. _What the hell is he gonna do?_

Natsu stopped walking, making Gray do the same. "It's getting dark," Gray started.

"..We're going to go find somewhere to sleep, probably near the forest were no one spots us,"

Natsu rose an eyebrow at him and Lucy just listened, feeling a strange emptiness in her stomach as they talked. _They're leaving Hargeon already?_

Natsu was about to finally speak, but Gray cut him off.

"...And tomorrow morning when we wake up, I'm going to take you back to the guild, whether you like it or not. And we'll both pretend none of this ever happened a-"

"Hold it right there," Natsu growled.

Gray sighed.

"...Who said I'm ever coming back?"

Natsu then gritted his teeth. "I'll _never_ be back. I'm too dangerous," He said bitterly.

_You guys weren't supposed to even come after me! I was planning to go and never come back, yet you ruined it all! _Natsu thought with anger.

_Why don't you understand that I only left for your own sakes? _He thought again, clenching his hands into fists.

Gray pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers tiredly. _Of course he'd refuse to come back._

"We'll talk about all of this next morning, Natsu," Gray said sternly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"...No matter what I do now, I won't be able to convince you," He said.

"I hope I don't have to use force tomorrow," He added, and Natsu felt his blood boil.

However, he took in a deep breath and then released it, trying to calm down. _I don't want to get out of control again__, now do I?_

Lucy took a step forward, about to speak up. _I can't have them fighting eachother again. This time, it seems more serious._

Before she could say a thing, someone gasped loudy.

"A Fairy Tail wizard!"

The three looked at where the voice was coming from, only to see a middle aged man pointing his finger at Gray with wide eyes.

Natsu cursed under his breath at he glanced at the ice wizard.

Gray looked down at himself, realizing his white coat was gone.

There stood his dark blue Fairy Tail emblem, exposed to everyone.

"Dammit," Gray cursed as more people gathered around them, looking at him with wide eyes.

Lucy looked at everyone with a confused face. _Fairy Tail, huh? That's an intresting name for a guild._

She frowned when Natsu and Gray both took a few steps back as the people kept starring at them, whispering things to eachother.

_But, why are they both looking so worried? _She thought.

Hearing footsteps coming, she turned around. Her eyes went wide when she spotted a few man with white robes running towards them.

"Are they from..," She trailed off with shock.

Natsu looked at where she was looking. "Yeah, the Magic Council,"

Gray gritted his teeth. "We've got to run away! Right now!" He said and started pushing through the crowd after grabbing his coat from the ground.

Natsu started following him, but Lucy just stood there dumbfounded as the magic council members got even closer.

Natsu looked back when he realized she wasn't following them. He growled. "Why are you just standing there?! Come on!"

He then grabbed her wrist firmly and started pulling her along with him as he ran after Gray.

"Why the heck are you guys _running away_?!" Lucy asked.

Natsu looked down at her. "Tch, haven't you realized it yet?" He hissed, and Lucy rose an eyebrow at him.

"Fairy Tail's a dark guild!"

The blond gasped. _A dark guild?_

"...That's why they're after us," He said, and Lucy remained silent, still in shock.

"If we get caught, we're screwed," Natsu panted, already feeling out of energy.

"Stop them!"

Gray gritted his teeth as cold sweat covered his body, clutching his coat tightly in his hand as the magic council members called out to them.

"They are from a dark guild! Stop them!" They yelled to the people as they followed the trio.

"I messed up, dammit," Gray growled, angry at himself as he tried to run even faster than he already was.

"If any of us gets caught, it's my fault," He said as he looked back at Natsu and Lucy.

Natsu had a hold on Lucy's wrist, and she didn't seem to be having any trouble running.

However, Natsu was slowing down second by second, and he was panting heavily as _Lucy _pulled him with her.

He struggled to breath as she ran. "T-Too bad we can't use magic against them!" He said. " It'll only make things worse, so we can only run away,"

"Come on!" Gray yelled, motioning for them to pick up their pace. _Natsu won't make it like this!_

"They'll catch up with you if you don't run any faster!" He added, and Lucy gritted her teeth, desparetly trying to be catch up with Gray.

Natsu's hold on Lucy's wrist suddenly got loose. He let go, coming to a stop as his hands went to his neck.

He gasped for breath. _I can't run!_

Lucy looked back at him worridly and instantly stopped running. "Come on, Natsu!"

Gray halted as well and looked back at the dragon slayer as he struggled to breath.

"Run, dammit! They're coming!" Gray said, but Natsu didn't move.

"I...I can't run," Natsu said, his vision filled with black spots again.

"There they are!" The voices came again. Gray cursed. _They've probably seen us._

"...Go without me," Natsu said, doubling over with his hands on his knees now.

Lucy growled. "No way!"

She ran back to where he was and grabbed his arm, swinging it over her shoulders.

She groaned as she pulled him forward with herself with all of her strength.

"I'm...Not..," She said between breathes. "...Leaving you...Behind..,"

Natsu's eyes widened at her words as he looked down at her.

People looked at the three as they ran, with the magic council on their toes. Gray looked around, trying to find a place for hiding.

He suddenly bumped into a man, knocking him down to the ground with force.

"Tch, I'm sorry," He apologized quickly and ran through the people along with the other two, the crowd slowing them down.

"Stop them!" They yelled again.

Gray felt relief wash over him when his eyes caught sight of a alley between the buildings, empty and deserted. It was dark, and nothing could be seen. "Yes!"

He slowed down and looked back at Natsu and Lucy. She was panting heavily as she pulled him along, him leaning most of his weight on her.

"Natsu, Lucy, there!" Gray said and pointed at the alley's direction. Lucy sighed in relief.

They ran towards it, trying their best not to be seen. As soon as they were there, they leaned against the wall, pressing their backs against it.

They took in deep breathes, trying not to make the slightest of sounds as their bodies blended in with the shadows cast over the alley.

"Look what you've done, Gray," Natsu said, still panting. "Seriously, how hard is it to keep a shirt on?"

Gray gritted his teeth as his bare back pressed against the cold wall. "Shut up, Natsu,"

Natsu cursed under his breath as his chest tightened, feeling dizzy once more. _I've gotten so damn weak. _

"Where'd they go?!"

A man, dressed in the white robe from the council, passed the alley with a few other men trailing behind him.

The three held in their breathes. Lucy felt her heart beat painfully in her chest as she tried not to breath.

"Those Fairy Tail dogs!" Another said.

"...One day we'll get rid of them all after finding their nest," He growled.

After a few seconds of looking around, the gave up.

"They're not here! Let's go, they probably went in that direction!" The same man yelled, and they all disapeared in the distance after a few seconds.

"Phew..,"

Gray and Lucy let out the breathes they were holding in, and Natsu slid down the wall.

"That was close," Gray muttered as he put on his white coat .

Lucy sat down on the cold ground next to Natsu as she sighed in relief.

_Out of everything, I didn't expect them to be a dark guild. Even the council's after them!_ She thought.

Gray crouched down, slightly out of breath himself. There was silence for a few seconds, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

Suddenly, a dark shadow fell over them.

They all looked up with wide eyes. Someone was standing infront of them, their face hidden by the dark

Natsu growled. _Dammit, it's one of those council members._

Then, his eyes went wide.

_But why do they smell fammiliar?_

"We're doomed now," Gray whispered.

Lucy scooted closer to Natsu as the figure took a few steps towards them.

The figure finally stepped into the dim light, revealing long scarlet hair.

Natsu and Gray gasped at the fammiliar face of their friend, and Lucy frowned.

"Erza?!" Gray said, quickly standing up.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Natsu added with shock.

Erza crossed her arms over her chest.

"Finally, I found you after all the trouble I went through, Natsu." She said, and Natsu flinched, remaining silent.

Her eyes moved to Gray. "...And it seems you're not alone,"

She then narrowed her eyes at Gray. "I thought I told you not to come after him,"

She looked at both Gray and Natsu dead in the eyes, and they both gulped.

"You two," She growled. "You're dead,"


	9. Chapter Nine

**__ With Happy __**

"Achoo!"

The sound of his sneezing echoed in the empty room as he sniffled, cuddling even more into the blanket.

Happy sighed. Eventhough that young girl had used her magic to heal him back at the woods, he still felt a bit sick.

As his stomach growled from hunger, he sighed once again. He hadn't eaten for days, even before Natsu left, so there was no wonder he felt hungry.

He had told himself that checking the cabinets in the hotel room was out of question, but he knew that eventually, he'd be searching the cabinets in search of some food.

Looking to the side, Happy's eyes met the window. Realizing the sun had already set, he felt a wave of panic wash over him.

"Erza said she'd be back by the dawn, but she still hasn't came back," Happy mumbled. "Does that mean she actually found him?"

* * *

_**_ With Natsu, Gray, Lucy and Erza _**_

Gray groaned in pain as Erza hit him on the head with the back of her sword, making Lucy and Natsu flinch.

"Calm down, Erza," Gray growled as he slid down the wall. "You just said I couldn't come after _you__._ I came here all by myself,"

Erza held her sword above his head as she frowned.

"Either way, I told you _not_ to come, and you disobeyed me," She muttered and Gray narrowed his eyes at her.

"H-Hey, stop it you guys," Lucy said, voice barely heard as Erza looked down at Gray. _That hit must have hurt._

Erza's eyes then moved to the pink haired dragon slayer. "Your turn,"

Lucy frowned at her actions. _If she actually is their friend, then she's a bit too violent._

Gray kept rubbing his head, trying to sooth the pain. He glanced at Natsu, his eyes widening when Erza suddenly pointed her sword at him.

The ice wizard gritted his teeth. _If she lands a hit on Natsu, the wound on his head will open. _

However, to his surprise, Natsu didn't tremble or show any signs of fear at the sword being held right infront of his face.

Normally, when Erza was about to punish the two of them for disobeying her, they'd both freak out and cling to eachother as she did so.

But this time, Natsu was looking at her fearlessly, as if he didn't care.

"Go on if you want to hit me, Erza," Natsu muttered with a frown. _I'm already beaten up, but what can I do?_

The kicks and punches those men had landed on him at the bar that still hurt, and so did the large wound on his head. Natsu knew that he'd be dead by now if Gray hadn't found him.

Erza narrowed her eyes at Natsu, hesitating. _He does look a bit out of shape__._

As she looked down at him, her eyes caught the sight of the many bruises on his face and arms.

His hair was covered in dried blood, and there were bandages wrapped neatly around his head. He looked tired and his eyes were a bit dull.

She lowered her sword. _I was the one who always told Gray not to pick fights with him. _

She let out a sigh. _He's already wounded. I can't hurt him anymore._

Natsu's face remained emotionless as she made her sword disapear, making Lucy sigh in relief.

After a few moments of silence, Erza suddenly turned around, facing Lucy.

Her breathing hitched as the red haired woman crossed her arms over her chest, a murderous look in her eyes.

"Who are _you?_" She said, voice cold.

"U-Uh..," Lucy stuttered, taking a step back. "I assume you are _Lucy_?" Erza asked, making her frown.

"How do you know my name?" She asked, but Erza ignored her question and narrowed her eyes at her.

"Why are Natsu and Gray with _you_?" Erza asked, pointing an accusing finger at her. "...You're a complete stranger to _me,_"

Before Lucy could say anything, Erza cut her off.

"How do we know you're not with the magic council?" She said. "You could be a spy and tell them where we a-"

Lucy was slightly taken back when Natsu suddenly stood infront of her.

"Take it easy, Erza," Natsu said, cutting her off. "She's our friend now. She was just trying to help me,"

Lucy felt her heart warm up at his words and actions, and Erza rose an eyebrow.

"Is that so?" She asked, hand dropping to her side. _So Happy wasn't lying about her taking care of Natsu afterall._

Erza then locked eyes with the blond girl. "I apologize for my behaviour," She said, sighing.

"I was just...really worried about Natsu and...thought something bad had happened to him," Erza added, voice laced with worry.

Natsu felt slightly guilty after hearing her say that, but quickly shrugged it off.

Lucy smiled warmly at her. "It's alright," She said. "I'd be the same as you if a friend was in danger,"

Erza smiled back at her, and Gray rolled his eyes at the two.

Lucy then put a hand on Natsu's shoulder, whispering in his ear. "Thank you, Natsu,"

He tensed up slightly at how close she suddenly was to him. He soon relaxed, flashing her a smile.

Natsu then stepped back from her, facing Erza once again. "How the heck did you find us?"

Erza sighed. "I had been looking for you in the town for a few hours, so I decided to take a break,"

"...I was having a snack when I heard yelling outside," She muttered, remembering her time at the coffee shop.

* * *

_A waiter leaned close to another one of the waiters. "Is that the sixth strawberry cake she ordered?"_

_The other waiter hummed. "Yeah, she's quite the cake lover, huh?"_

_Erza took another bite of her cake with a smile, feeling the sweetness in her mouth as she munched on it. _

_Her seat beside the glass window was warm and cozy, just the opposite of the cold air outside._

_After she gulped the cake down, she sighed, finally remembering why she was in Hargeon in the first place._

_"I have to be looking for Natsu, not eating cake," She said, looking down at the plate._

_She let out a sigh. "I wonder where he is right now. Wherever he is, I hope he's safe and sou-"_

_"Stop them!"_

_Erza's head quickly turned towards the window. She looked outside just in time to see a few magic council members running after three figures._

_Her eye twitched at the sight._

_There was Natsu, who looked like he was going to __suffocate__ at any moment as he ran clumsily in the street._

_There was also a blond haired girl who had one of his arms over her shoulders, pulling him along with her as she ran as well._

_Then, there was a shirtless Gray in the lead, running as he clutched a white coat in his hand._

_"Stop them! They're Fairy Tail wizards!"_

_Erza stood up from her chair, knocking over the table. All heads turned to her at the loud noise as she walked towards the front door._

_"Those idiots," She hissed with anger. "I'll kill them!"_

* * *

As she finished telling the memory to the three, Natsu cursed under his breath.

_It's crazy how in less than a day, both Gray and Erza have found me. _Natsu thought and sighed, clenching his hands into fists. His claws dug into his palm, making him wince.

Erza then narrowed her eyes at Natsu as she noticed how he had been hiding one of his arms behind himself the entire time.

"What happened to your arm?" She questioned as she looked at Natsu dead in the eyes. "Why are you hiding it behind yourself this time?"

There was that question again. The same one everyone had asked him. The same one he feared, because he knew if they found out, they'd be afraid of him because of his true nature.

Natsu gritted his teeth, taking a step back. "Nothing of _your_ business,"

Lucy looked at Natsu with sadness, taking note of how uncomfortable he looked while being asked that question.

She bit her lip. _I understand how he can't just tell them. If he did, they would all freak out and probably get away from him._

She sighed. _Afterall, I'm the only one who saw what he c__an do._

As Erza took a step towards Natsu, Lucy frowned.

_But how come I'm not afraid?_

"Don't say that, Natsu," Erza said. "It _is _my business. You're my friend, and I have to be sure of your well being,"

Gray kept silent as he kept watching the two. He sighed as Natsu hid his arm behind himself, _again._

_Wouldn't it just be the easiest way if you told us? _Gray thought. _If there's anyone that should know, it's me and Erza._

When Natsu didn't reply, Erza looked down at the ground.

"Natsu," She started gently. "Five months ago, you said it was just a burn,"

Natsu's eyes went slightly wide at the memory of him telling Erza and Gray how the red marks of his etherious self were just burn marks.

Erza then looked up into his eyes with her own pained ones and put both of her hands on his shoulders.

"...But I know it wasn't,"

Natsu instantly tore his eyes away from hers, not being able to look at her.

_I could easily lie, but I can't. Not to Erza, not to Gray. _He thought. _But I can't tell the truth either._

Suddenly, Gray put a hand on Erza's shoulder.

"Let go of him," Gray demanded as he pulled Erza away from Natsu, making her frown in confusion.

Gray then looked at Natsu with a blank expression. Natsu did the same, slightly taken back by his actions.

"He's already promised to tell us when the time is right," Gray said, and Natsu's eyes went wide.

_He's right. _Natsu thought, remembering their conversation back at the woods. _I made a promise to tell him, and Erza as well._

After a few seconds, Erza stepped away from Natsu. Lucy sighed in relief.

Erza sighed once again and faced Gray, breaking the silence.

"Gray," She started. "I hope your intention by coming here was bringing Natsu back to the guild,"

"Tch, I was going to," Gray hissed and pointed at Natsu. "But he wouldn't come back,"

Natsu sighed.

"I'm not coming back, Erza," He said. "And you _can't_ make me,"

"Yes, she can," Gray muttered, only for Natsu to hear.

Natsu hit him hard in the stomach with his elbow. "Shut up,"

Erza lokoked up at the dark sky. "Unfortunately, it's too late for going back to the guild _now_," She said. "We will go back tomorrow,"

Natsu gritted his teeth. "I just said I'm not coming back, dammit!"

Erza ignored him and began walking out of the alley.

She clenched her hands into fists, feeling her hair fall onto her face as she took steps forward.

_Why can't you understand, Natsu? _She thought, gritting her teeth in both anger and frustration.

Her heart was beating painfully in her chest. _Why can't you understand how worried we all are for you?_

Lucy took a few steps forward, following her. "Hey," She muttered with concern. "You okay?"

Erza inhaled sharply. "Yes, I'm fine,"

Lucy frowned. "You don't have to lie, you know,"

Erza looked to the side, smiling at her weakly. "You're very kind, Lucy," She said. "I appreciate your concern for me,"

Lucy smiled, but kept silent as she walked with the scarlet haired woman.

Breaking the silence, Erza spoke up. "I assume you know already that we're from..," She trailed off with a frown.

Lucy nodded. "Fairy Tail. Yeah, I do," She mumbled, smiling a bit. "...I found out when those magic council members started following us,"

Erza pinched the bridge of her nose, remembering how the three of them were running away from the magic council in the streets.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Erza apologized. "We're a dark guild, so they chase after us whenever they spot one of the members,"

"I see," Lucy replied simply.

Erza then narrowed her eyes at the celestial wizard.

"Although you've helped Natsu, as he said," She muttered. "That doesn't mean I fully trust you yet,"

Lucy took note of how serious her tone suddenly became.

Erza continued. "If anyone finds out how you know about Fairy Tail and how you know some of its members, you'd be in danger,"

"...I also hope you yourself don't let the magic council know of us, Lucy," Erza said, voice as cold as ice.

Lucy chuckled. "Why would I?" She said. "Of course I wouldn't do that. You guys are like my friends now,"

The blond then smiled warmly at Erza. "Plus, we're equal now,"

Erza rose an eyebrow in confusion.

Lucy pointed her finger at Natsu and Gray, who were walking side by side behind them.

"Those two," Lucy said. "They know something important about me. If they tell anyone, I'm doomed,"

Erza hummed. "And what is that?"

"I'm a runaway," Lucy muttered with a sigh. "I ran away from home,"

Erza's eyes widened a bit. "Really?"

"Yes," Lucy said. "My father's men are looking all over for me, so I'm on the run,"

Natsu frowned as he listened to their conversation, slowly following them along with Gray by his side.

He felt bad for Lucy. She was a runaway, and so was he.

He ran away from home, just like she did.

Natsu sighed. _However, sh__e__ doesn't look upset about being far from her home._

As Lucy walked with Erza, chatting with her quietly, Natsu locked his eyes on her.

_In fact, she's happy. _

_I can tell she doesn't feel homesick, unlike me._

He looked down at the ground, knowing he would never go back.

Natsu shook his head in order to get rid of his own thoughts. He looked up, realizing they were no longer inside the dark alley, but walking in the streets.

Natsu looked to the side, glancing at Gray. _He saved my ass when Erza was questioning me. Thanks to him, she shrugged it off for now._

Gray then turned his head, facing him as he rose an eyebrow. "What?"

Natsu huffed, turning his head away with a pout.

"Thank you,"

Gray frowned, taken back. "Huh?"

Natsu crossed his arms over his chest. "For getting Erza away from me,"

He added. "...If you hadn't pushed her away, she would've bombered me with her questions,"

After a few seconds, Gray burst out laughing. "I can't believe you're actually saying thanks!"

Natsu gritted his teeth, feeling his cheeks warm up in embarrassment. "Tch, shut up, popsicle,"

Gray then stopped laughing, and took in a breath, facing Natsu with a rather serious expression plastered on his face.

"But Natsu," Gray said. "Don't forget your promise. You _have_ to tell us,"

Natsu sighed. "Fine," He mumbled. "As long as you promise not to tell anyone when I did,"

The two then picked up their pace, catching up with the two girls.

Erza suddenly halted as they came to a corner.

"Wait," She said. "Let me check, just in case,"

She then peeked at the other street, making sure there was no sign of the magic council.

After a few seconds, she faced them. "All clear,"

The four of them kept walking in silence, and Gray made sure not to strip again.

Natsu groaned. "Where the _hell _are we exactly going?"

Erza hummed. "That's a good question," She said. "We're going to find a place to stay for the night after we pick up Hap-"

"Oh, I know!" Lucy cut her off. "Why don't you guys come to my place?"

The three looked at her with perplexed expressions. Natsu frowned.

"Y'mean that place where I ran away from when you tried to patch me up?" He asked.

Lucy nodded. _Maybe after I gain their trust like this, they'd let me join their guild!_

She continued. "I already know how you guys are all low on money," She said. "That's why I'll let you stay the night,"

She then scratched her neck, chuckling. "It might be a bit small, but it's better than sleeping at the edge of the forest, right?"

Erza sighed in relief. _That's nice of her. This way, we'll have a place to stay, and we'll also have Happy with us._

She felt slightly worried since the exceed was a bit ill. _I hope he is doing okay all by himself._

"Thanks, Lucy," Gray said, flashing a smile of gratitude. "That means a lot,"

"We appreciate your help, Lucy," Erza thanked her as well.

Lucy then started leading them to the hotel where she stayed in. It wasn't very far, but she knew it would take a while to get there.

After a few minutes of walking, Natsu locked his arms behind his head, looking up at the sky.

He was really thankful that his arm wasn't burning hot anymore. Before the night when he burnt down the bar, his left arm used to be just like lava, burning anything it came in contact with.

He frowned as he remembered how had to use a magic glove to hold his magic in.

_Speaking of my magic glove. _He thought. _Where is it?_

His frown deepened. _I lost it last night when I was out of control, didn't I?_

He then sighed. _Who cares? Last night, my power was finally released from my hand, so it doesn't burn anything anymore. I don't need that glove anyway._

Natsu shook his head to get rid of his thoughts. He frowned, looking at Erza and Gray.

_Hmm. _Natsu thought. _How come Happy is not with them?_

He narrowed his eyes, gaze still fixed on the two.

_I'm sure he'd be the first one to come after me. _Natsu thought. _Shouldn't he have followed them if he found out they were after me?_

He then gritted his teeth. _What if he was the one who let Erza and Gray know where I'll be? Could he be the reason those two just popped out of nowhere?_

However, he soon relaxed himself with a sigh. _No. He wouldn't do that. I know it._

Natsu looked up from the ground, locking eyes on the sky once again.

"Say, Gray," He muttered, not looking at the ice wizard. "Why isn't _Happy _with you?"

Gray rose an eyebrow. "That's what I should be asking you,"

Natsu frowned. "Huh? Why?"

"Well," Gray started with a sigh. "I thought you had taken Happy _with_ you when I found your house empty,"

Natsu's eyes went wide. _Empty?_

Gray continued. "But turns out you came here all by yourself,"

Natsu stopped walking. "What are you talking about?"

After taking a few steps, Gray stopped walking as well, and looked back.

"Don't you know where he is?" Gray questioned, slightly shocked.

Natsu shook his head in denial, eyes still wide. _If he's not back there at home, then where can he be?_

Gray added. "Happy's the one who's always with you wherever you go," He said. "How come he's not with you this time?"

Natsu took in a breath. "I didn't even _bring_ him here with me in the first place,"

"What?" Gray questioned.

Natsu opened his mouth to answer, but then went silent and stiffened.

Gray was about to question his weird behaviour. "W-"

"Hush," Natsu whisper shouted, looking at the two females who walked infront of them, talking.

"Just what the hell is it?!" Gray whisper shouted as well, looking at the two girls.

"Shut up and listen," Natsu said, focusing all his attention on the two, thanking his enhanced hearing and sharp ears.

"Hey, Erza," Lucy said. "You still didn't tell me how you knew my name,"

"Oh," Erza said. "Happy told me,"

Natsu gasped. _Happy?!_

Gray was taken back, but remained silent.

Lucy rose an eyebrow, remembering the small blue cat who had been dragging an injured Natsu with himself in the streets earlier.

"You mean that blue exceed?" She questioned.

"That's him," Erza said with a nod. "He was the one who told me Natsu was in Hargeon,"

Natsu blinked in surprise, not believing his ears.

Erza continued. "How do you know Happy anyway?"

"Well, I found him dragging an unconsciousness Natsu in the streets," Lucy said.

Natsu's eyes widened even more. _Just what happened when I was knocked out?_

Lucy added. "I offered to help him and Natsu, and he accepted," She explained. "I brought them to my room in the hotel, and tried to patch up Natsu,"

Gray kept listening with a frown, and Natsu felt his heart pound quite painfully in his chest.

Lucy took in a breath. "He then told me he would leave in order to bring back a _friend, _to bring Natsu back home,"

Gray rose an eyebrow. "So Happy was the one who led Erza to Hargeon?" He whispered.

Natsu remained silent, still listening.

Lucy sighed. "However, right after he left by the forest, Natsu made a break for it,"

Erza hummed. "Really?"

"Yeah," Lucy mumbled, looking down. "He was losing a lot of blood, and I knew it was dangerous, so I followed him into the forest,"

Erza pursed her lips. _It all makes sense now. I think we can trust her afterall._

"And there's where I found him and Gray together," Lucy continued. "His wounds were already wrapped in bandages, by Gray, I think,"

Natsu frowned, glancing at Gray. "Was _Happy _the one who told you to come, too?"

"No," Gray muttered. "I came here by myself,"

Natsu growled. "How the hell did you know where I was then?!" He whisper shouted.

Gray gritted his teeth. "It was on that paper I found, dammit!" He hissed. "It said that the plant was found in Hargeon!"

Natsu growled, then looked back at Lucy and Erza.

Erza looked at Lucy with a frown. "Wait,"

"..._Happy_ never came and asked for my help. I left on my own," Erza said. _I just found him on my way. _

"What?" Natsu breathed with surprise.

_"_Does that mean Happy never _actually_ got to Fairy Tail?" Gray asked.

Natsu's breathing hitched. _Did something happen to him in the forest?!_

Erza then frowned, remembering how she had left Happy back at Lucy's house after finding him without her knowing.

"Actually, Lucy," Erza said, feeling a bit guilty about not letting her know earlier. "There's something you need to know,"

"Huh?" Lucy asked, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What is that?"

Before Erza could speak, Natsu suddenly ran pass her and Lucy.

"Natsu! Wait!" Gray called out, running after him.

"What is it?!" Lucy said, eyes laced with worry as she looked at the two run.

She rose an eyebrow when she realized where Natsu was headed for. _The forest?_

"Natsu!" Erza said as she started to run as well. "Stop!"

Since they were on the outskirts of town, it didn't long before the trees covered with snow came into view.

Natsu took in unsteady breathes, trying to keep his pace as he ran. _I have to find Happy! He must be in danger!_

He gritted his teeth as he felt himself slowing down as soon as he stepped in the snow, his chest begining to hurt as the cold started getting to him.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed firmly onto his scarf, pulling him back.

"Gah!" Natsu yelped out of shock. "Let me go!"

Natsu knew he had to calm down, but couldn't. A strange feeling wa rising at the pit of his stomach, and the fammiliar tingling sensation was in his arm.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?!" Gray exclaimed, Lucy not much far behind him.

The ice wizard panted heavily as he tightened his grip on his scarf. Natsu tried to free himself, but failed.

"I told you to let me go!" Natsu yelled, but Gray kept holding him tightly.

"No can do," Gray said, voice no longer laced with anger.

He looked at Natsu with pained eyes. "If I do, you'll run away,"

Lucy looked at Natsu with worry, and then at Gray.

"Natsu! You can't just go back in there!" Lucy said. "You won't last in there! You'll die!"

"I don't care! I have to find Happy!" Natsu exclaimed.

He continued furiously. "...Don't you understand?! He might be in danger! He could be lost! I have to find him!"

Gray gritted his teeth as Natsu struggled in his grip. "Just calm down, Natsu!"

Lucy grabbed a hold of Gray's arm when Natsu started choking for breath. "Stop it, Gray!" She said. "You're hurting him!"

Erza caught up with the three, eyes landing on Natsu and Gray. "Stop it you two!"

All of a sudden, Natsu went silent.

His hands dropped to his sides, and he stopped struggling.

Lucy gasped. "Natsu?" She called out with concern. "Natsu!"

Gray loosened his grip on the dragon slayer in confusion, cursing under his breath. _Did I hurt him?_

His eyes went wide when Natsu suddenly looked up at him. There was something in his eyes that he couldn't name.

"Let go of me, Gray," Natsu said once again, voice emotionless and cold.

Lucy's breathing hitched when her eyes landed on Natsu's left arm.

It was no longer just a dark red. It was slowly glowing orange, and his claws were growing longer. Lucy took note of how his teeth _all _looked pointy now.

Natsu gritted his teeth. "I said..," He growled. "Let me go!"

In one swift movement, his hand swung at Gray.

The sight was nothing new to Lucy. The horrid memories of the previous night filled her head.

"Natsu!" She yelled. "No!"

Gray was frozen, and could do nothing but to watch as the sharp claws inched closer to his face.

Erza gapped at the sight, not believing what she was seeing.

All Natsu could hear was faded voices around him. His vision was blurry, and he could barely see.

_Have I lost control again?_

Even when trying to speak, no sound came out of his mouth.

_Has my etherious form has taken over me?_

He felt like he was going to suffocate, but not only because Gray had been holding him by the neck. His chest felt heavy and tight.

_I can't breath!_

He saw his left arm moving towards a blurry figure. It was as if he was watching everything in slow motion.

_But_ _I can't hurt anybody! Not my own friends!_

All of a sudden, his vision cleared.

There stood Gray and Lucy, as well as Erza, all looking _frightened._

Natsu's hand had stopped milimeters away from Gray's face.

There was silence for a few seconds, Natsu still holding up his hand near Gray's face.

However, the look in his eyes was the same wild one from seconds ago.

Lucy recovered from the shock quicker than the others and stood infront of Gray, pushing him back. The ice wizard inhaled sharply, eyes wide.

Lucy then gently grabbed hold of Natsu's upper arm.

She winced at the heat. Eventhough her hand wasn't on the red markings on his skin, it was still scorching hot.

"Natsu," She said, voice soft and gentle as she looked in his wild eyes.

Her hand trembled as she struggled to keep holding him, already feeling her skin burning. Tears gathered in her eyes at the pain.

"I-I know you're in there, Natsu,"

_That voice._

"You've got to snap out of it,"

_It's Lucy's._

"...Please,"

Natsu's arm slowly dropped to his side.

He then took in a gasp of air, finally breathing. He felt lightheaded as air filled his lungs, and the world around him went black.

As Natsu started falling forward, Lucy caught him, stumbling back slightly.

She grabbed him under his arms, his head falling onto her shoulder.

Lucy then sighed, relieved.

Erza instantly ran towards them, a horrified look on her face.

As she looked down at his left hand, her breathing hitched. _There's no doubt about it. _

Erza gritted her teeth.

_That's E.N.D's._

Gray looked at Natsu, eyes still wide. Cold sweat was covering his whole body.

"I-I can't believe it," Gray choked out. "He actually attacked me,"

Lucy gently placed Natsu on the ground and looked back at Gray.

"Are you alright?" Lucy asked, voice laced with worry. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"I'm fine," Gray said, looking at his left arm lose it's glow, going back to it's normal dark red colour. "But what the hell was that?"

Lucy pursed her lips. "I have no idea,"

Gray winced when his eyes met Lucy's burnt hand. "That looks pretty bad,"

Lucy just sighed, trying to ignore the stinging pain.

"Let's go," Erza finally spoke up, voice emotionless.

The two looked at her in confusion. "...Show us the way to your place, Lucy,"

* * *

"Is he going to be alright?" Lucy asked worridly, looking down at the pink haired male lying on her bed. She held her injured hand with the other, wincing at how much it hurt every now and then.

"He'll be fine," Erza said, pulling a blanket over him. "I hope,"

Happy was sitting on Natsu's stomach, looking down at him worridly.

Gray sat on a chair far from the bed, just looking up at the ceiling.

"You did it again," Happy whispered, voice weak. "...Didn't you, Natsu?"

Erza then turned around, facing the exceed. "Happy," She said, "I know you two know something we don't,"

The blue cat sighed.

"You _have_ to let us know, Happy," Erza added. "Natsu's life may be in danger,"

Happy shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you," He mumbled. "He'll tell you himself when he wakes up,"

Erza sighed. "Fine,"

Happy's stomach suddenly growled.

"I-I'll go get something for us to eat," Lucy awkwardly said, heading to the kitchen with a frown. _Although I doubt anyone has an appetite._

There was silence in the room, except the tick tock of a clock hanging on the wall.

Erza looked at Natsu worridly as he took in short breathes. Even so, he still looked peaceful.

A crooked smile made its way onto her lips as she trailed her fingers over the soft bandage around his head.

"Lucy told me," She started, trying to light up the mood.

"...That you were the one who wrapped his wounds in bandages,"

Gray tilted his head to the side, looking at the red haired woman with a raised eyebrow.

Erza faced him and smiled. "That's the last thing I'd expect _you _to do, Gray,"

Gray huffed, looking to the side.

"Tch, shut up," He said. "I just did it, because if he drops dead, I wouldn't gave anyone else to beat up,"

"Sure," Erza said with a smile. "Whatever you say,"


End file.
